10
Sports
The Daily Aztec
Sept. 12-18, 2018 EDITOR: Abraham Jewett • sports@thedailyaztec.com
COLUMN
Four yellow cards too many for Aztecs by Cristian STAFF WRITER
Alvarez
San Diego State men’s soccer secured a second win this season on the evening of Sept. 9 against UC Irvine, defeating the Anteaters 2-1 in overtime at the SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs also received their first piece of hardware this season by winning the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central Aztec Soccer Tournament for the fifth time in 11 years in school history. Even though the team was victorious, many fouls were committed throughout the course of the match. Some resulted from frustration throughout the match, others from pure nature of the beautiful game. SDSU has made it clear physicality is part of its DNA, but it also displayed how vulnerable its decisions on the field can lead to unnecessary calls. The Aztecs so far this season have displayed their emotions on the field when things are not following the game plan. It’s hard to try and feel what the players
are going through over the course of a match. All sorts of things are happening at the same time. Pressure is always present to perform at the highest level for any member of the squad. When you consistently watch a team, over time you tend to notice what makes players tick and react in a certain way. However, some calls you kind of scratch your head in disbelief wondering what the referee saw that you did not. Soccer is a physical game, but sometimes emotions run too deep, and the result is a tally of yellow cards and fouls. “It just makes you more nervous on the bench,” head coach Lev Kirshner said. “You sit there and you’re trying to make decisions on whether or not you need to make a substitution for fear of a second yellow.” Key players like sophomore midfielder Keegan Kelly and junior defender Miles Stray accounted for half of the four yellow cards awarded in the match. “The worst part of those yellows is they came from the spine, and some very significant players for us,” Kirshner said. “You don’t really want to sub those types
of guys.” Losing crucial pieces in a match is a situation no team wants to be in, and the Aztecs have been pressing their luck, racking up a total of 13 yellow cards through six games played this season. SDSU received 21 fouls against UC Irvine, part of a combined 42 foul calls between the two teams during the match. Kirshner said it is unusual for both sides to end up on the tail end of foul play.
“There was just a lot of fouls,” he said. “When you have 42 fouls, there’s some interesting things to think about.” The team needs to remain calm and focus on the objective. Soccer, like any sport, has moments when things go from black to white at any time. If there is one area SDSU needs to improve, it is maintaining composure throughout their matches. Otherwise, these unwanted situations will continue.
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The referee shows SDSU a yellow card during the Aztecs’ 2-1 victory over UC Irvine on Sept. 9 at the SDSU Sports Deck.=
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