UCSB’s defense had a rough afternoon and San Diego State capitalized by posting a 4-2 victory over the sixth-ranked Gauchos on Friday at the Aztecs’ Sports Deck.
Junior Raymundo Reza scored two goals and assisted on another for the Aztecs (2-2-2).
It was an ugly defeat for the Gauchos, who struggled at the defensive end all game long.
On the first goal, San Diego State’s Khadim Diouf beat a defender on the dribble and slid a pass to Raza, who calmly touched it into the net for about 10 yards for a 1-0 lead.
The Gauchos (5-2-1) would answer at the 27:42 mark when Luis Silva got through the defense and finished a one-on-one against SDSU goalkeeper Brad Byrns.
Reza went at the UCSB defense again and drew a foul and a yellow card against Machael David. On the ensuing free kick just outside the penalty area, Reza flicked a ball over the wall to a streaking Jamel Wallace. Wallace corralled Reza’s pass and sent it into the right corner from eight yards out.
The Gauchos wasted no time tying the match in the second half as Michael Nonni took a pass from Peter McGlynn and fired it off the far post from 15 yards at 46 minutes.
In the 61st minute, freshman Jose Altamirano laid a pass back to Reza on a set piece. Reza pushed it to his right and drilled a 23-yard attempt off a UCSB defender, past goalkeeper Sam Hayden and into the right-corner for the eventual game-winner.
Toft made it 4-2 in 76th minute after receiving a pass from freshman Morgan Sacco and ripping a 22-yard shot from the middle of the field into the left-corner.
Waid Ibrahim had UCSB’s last quality chance in the 83rd minute when he got free on a breakaway. Byrns was there, however, to make the diving stop and secure SDSU’s first victory over UCSB since 1998.
Byrns made a game-high six saves in 90 minutes for the victors, while the Gauchos’ Sam Hayden had one save.
The Gauchos return home Sunday for their Big West opener against defending champion UC Irvine. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
