Nov. 8, 2002
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - For the second time in as many matches - as well as in the same city - Gonzaga University's men's soccer team came from a 2-0 halftime deficit to post a 4-2 non-conference victory over San Diego State University on Friday.
On a rainy, windswept SDSU Sports Deck, the match was a tale of two halves, with the elements playing as big a part as the players in the final outcome. With the wind blowing from south to north, each team had the wind at its back for a half, and each used that advantage to score. Gonzaga had come from a 2-0 deficit a week earlier at the University of San Diego to post a 3-2 overtime victory.
With the wind and rain behind them, the Aztecs (4-13-2) went ahead in the 23rd minute when senior Tyler Tinling let go a low shot from some 45 yards that skipped past Bulldog keeper Mike McCarthy.
SDSU doubled its lead some 17 minute later, this time on a free kick from 35 yards out on the left. Tinling again hit a low drive that was deflected by teammate Paul Szelfer into the goal. It was Szefler's team-leading seventh goal of the season.
In the second half, Gonzaga (5-8-1) wasted little time in getting back into the contest, A corner kick from Jeff Lane found the head of Taylor McCool, who guided the ball past SDSU keeper Brian Barnes less than two minutes into the second half. McCool had his first two goals of the season last week against USD, including the winner in overtime.
The equalizer came 15 minutes later with some good fortune aiding the Bulldogs. A free kick from the right was sent in as a low cross by the Bulldogs' Matt Prichard. The ball hit an Aztec defender 12 yards in front of goal, deflecting past a wrong-footed Barnes and into the net at 61:22.
Just over a minute after that, Prichard got a goal of his own when his shot from 22 yards skipped past Barnes and settled in the lower left corner. Gonzaga put the game away when Tryggvi Bjornsson netted his first of the season with a long free kick that once again skipped on the grass and into the goal.
Both Gonzaga's McCarthy and SDSU's Barnes finished the game with three saves. The game was evenly contested over the 90 minutes with the Bulldogs taking just two more shots that the home side (13-11).
The Bulldogs remain in southern California for a West Coast Conference match Sunday at 1 p.m. at Loyola Marymount University. The Bulldogs need a win over LMU on Sunday, a victory at the University of Portland next Saturday and one University of San Francisco loss to claim their inaugural outright WCC regular-season soccer crown.
