Air Force Academy
Fresno State
Air Force Men's Soccer Falls at MPSF Tournament
11/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 9, 2001
The Air Force men's soccer team lost its first round game at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships Thursday, 2-1 to host Fresno State, on a day that saw all four lower seeds advance to the semifinals.
The Falcons entered the game as the tournament's No. 2 seed and with revenge on their minds after falling to Fresno State, 3-0, last Sunday in the regular-season finale. AFA seemed to be well on its way as junior Tom Clark opened the scoring in the 32nd minute on a pass from freshman Marcus Sagastume. It was Clark's third goal of the season and Sagastume's sixth helper.
Unfortunately for Air Force, Fresno State tied the score just under two minutes later to take back the momentum when freshman Dan Oka volleyed a cross from Jeremiah LeRoy past Falcon goalie Mike Brophy.
Defense was the name of the game in the second half as there were minimal scoring chances by both teams. Each team attempted only one shot on goal, but Fresno State's shot found the back of the net. With 35 minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs' Noah Delgado found LeRoy open on the right flank and he beat Brophy with the game-winner.
Brophy made two saves for Air Force, which fell to 11-5-1 and must wait until Nov. 19 to see if it can gain an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons have not helped their cause recently, going 0-3-1 in their final four games.
Jeremy Proud made one save for the seventh-seed Fresno State, which improved to 6-6-6 and will face No. 6-seed San Jose State in one of Friday's semifinals. SJSU advanced with a 2-0 upset over No. 3-seed Denver.
No. 8-seed New Mexico, which did not win a conference game during the regular season, will take on No. 5 UNLV in the other semifinal. UNM defeated top-seeded Sacramento State, 3-2 in overtime, while UNLV beat No. 4 San Diego State in a shootout. The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
