IRVINE, Calif. --- A straight red card in the 61st minute threw a wrench into men's soccer's plans, but the Anteaters remained steadfast as part of a 0-0 draw Sunday night in Anteater Stadium with San Diego State.
The play came along the bench sideline with a hard challenge by Anteater defender Andy Mendoza. He was issued a straight red card and sent off leaving the 'Eaters with 10 men.
The match saw just three shots total in the first half and four more between the half and the card. The best chance came in the seventh minute has freshman Ivan Canales found himself on a 1v1 chance, but his low shot caught the keeper's leg and kept the match even.
Mats Bjurman had a great chance of his own turning a Thomas Janjigian free kick on net in the 32nd minute with a header that shot into the ground at the penalty spot and rose above the bar.
San Diego State (3-0-2) went on the attack firing up seven more shots throughout the remainder of regulation, but could not figure out Michael Breslin who made five saves in regulation.
UC Irvine (1-2-2) had its best two chances following the ruling starting in the 70th minute. Gerardo Gonzalez gathered a ball 35 yards out, turned, and lofted a swift liner off the crossbar bounding high and back into play.
Another opportunity came in the 89th minute as defender Jack Birkenbeuel made a daring run all the way to the offensive third and laced a dynamite through-ball to Eduardo Calzada who gathered and fired putting it just right of the goal to send the match into overtime.
"I like to make those runs when I see it open up," junior defender Jack Birkenbeuel said of the play. "He made a perfect run down the line. The main goal once you get down is defense. We were going to get that one chance and Lalo got it."
The overtime periods saw chances for each side, but only one shot overall on target as the sides came to an impasse with a scoreless draw.
"Considering we played a man down for 50 minutes, we kept a shutout and that was important to me," Head Coach Chris Volk said of the squad's second straight draw with a sending off. "It makes it difficult collectively having to play two overtime games in a row, but the group worked hard and for each other. Our best quality chances came down a man, a little bit unlucky not to find the frame. We're going to take that momentum and see if we can't get some results on the road."
Birkenbeuel and the backline stepped up adding freshman Jorge Lara fresh off his first action on Friday night to hold back the increasingly aggressive Aztec side.
"We just have to defend. When you get down to 10 men, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. You have to make sure the defensive midfielders stay in. Jorge [Lara] coming in as a freshman I thought did a really good job at right back."
"Jorge [Lara] came on late in the USD game. Right now with injuries, he's our next defender. He's learning, his eyes are wide open, still making some tactical adjustments, but I think he's going to do fine."
UCI had a player sent off in Friday's match as well as a result of two yellows. They played even with their opponent at 10 men for just over 30 minutes.
The 'Eaters finished with eight shots to SDSU's 13. Canales managed the lone shot on goal saved by Adam Allmaras of SDSU. He also earned Offensive MVP honors in the San Diego Central All-Tournament Team. Along with him on the team were defenders Jack Birkenbeuel and Matthew Tilley and keeper Michael Breslin.
The Anteaters will head to the Southwest next with matches at Oral Roberts on Thursday, Sept. 17, and SMU on Sunday, Sept. 20.
_________________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.
