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 Devon Newton played well in a key defensive role |
Sept. 9, 2007
SAN DIEGO, CA - The University of San Diego scored once in each half to defeat visiting New Jersey Institute of Technology, 2-0, Sunday afternoon in the second leg of The Soccer Post/Aztec Classic men's soccer tournament.
USD finished the classic with a 2-0 mark, having beaten Fairleigh Dickinson, 2-0, on Friday at the same time NJIT was scoring a 2-0 upset win over San Diego State, ranked 22nd nationally by Top Drawer Soccer and 23rd by Soccer America.
FDU and San Diego State played their second-leg match later on Sunday.
Kyle Ochoa, a sophomore, got the homestanding Toreros on the board with a goal in the 14th minute and Fabrice Gautrat picked up and insurance marker for USD in the fourth minute of the second half.
Ochoa scored off a centering pass from Dustin Guerrero at 13:26 for Ochoa's first goal of the season.
Gautrat's goal was a left-footed free kick from 25 years out at 48:28.
Kelin Briones made two saves to record the shutout in the Toreros goal.
NJIT senior Collin Cunning, making his first start of the season, made six saves to go with the two goals allowed.
Kayo Emojong and Gustav Warfving each had a shot on goal to lead the NJIT offense. Freshman Frank Vogas came off the bench to add a shot for the Highlanders.
San Diego is 2-1 on the season, having opened with a 2-0 loss to Cal Berkeley before scoring the pair of 2-0 wins in three days over the two visitors from New Jersey--NJIT and FDU.
"We played a good team, which we knew coming in having seen them play on Friday," said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes. "We knew we had to do some things and for the most part we did, except two true mistakes created opportunities for (USD) to score and they took advantage."
Noting that San Diego had a lot of the ball in the first half, Lopes said: "It was to be expected, but we had to play well to keep the score at 1-0. Then they scored in the opening minutes of the second half."
Lopes had praise for sophomore Devon Newton. Said the coach: "I thought he did a great job in the back stepping in for Oshane (Moodie, who was sitting out due to having collected two yellow cards in Friday's big win over San Diego State)."
Lopes also mentioned Erik Magnusson, who has accounted for all three of his team's 2007 goals, but was kept off the board on Sunday. "I thought Erik kept working and got more chances as the game went a long," Lopes said. "He came close twice."
The coach also credited Robert Herrera and Kayo Emojong, saying: "Bobby and Kayo did a good job protecting the middle, which they usually do."
The Highlanders, 1-2, are off until Friday, September 14, when they host Long Island University at 4 pm on Lubetkin Field in the NJIT home opener.
