UCLA Rallies to Eliminate SDSU in Soccer, 2-1

The San Diego State soccer team proved Sunday that a team can’t have too many advantages.

The Aztecs, despite a 1-goal lead and a man advantage midway through the second half, lost to UCLA, 2-1, in a first-round National Collegiate Athletic Assn. match.

UCLA, which got 2 goals from Billy Thompson in the final 17 minutes, advances to a second-round match Sunday at Portland.

San Diego State, which lost to Clemson, 2-0, in the NCAA final last year, finishes the season 15-3-4.

Both of Thompson’s goals came after UCLA defender Dana Keir was ejected at the 70-minute mark after getting involved in an altercation with Aztec forward Eric Wynalda.

“Sometimes when your team is a man up, you feel that you don’t have to work as hard,” San Diego State Coach Chuck Clegg said.

And, on the other side, the team down a man sometimes works harder.

“When Dana was kicked out, I kind of smiled,” Thompson said. “I knew that the incident would make us keep fighting.”

Actually, UCLA (13-4-4) didn’t need much to get motivated. San Diego State (15-3-4) had eliminated the Bruins from the playoffs last year.

And after Kyle Whittemore’s first-half goal and Keir’s ejection, it looked as if the Aztecs would eliminate the Bruins again.

But Thompson scored off crossing passes by Cobi Jones and Nick Skvarna to tie the score, and then used his speed to win it.

As a loose ball rolled toward the SDSU goal, Thompson beat a sliding tackle by Marcelo Balboa and then outraced Aztec goalkeeper Brian Finnerty to the ball.

Thompson’s left-footed kick rolled over the sliding Finnerty to make it 2-1 with 8 minutes left. San Diego State, which didn’t get a shot on goal in the second half, never threatened after that.