San Jose State Slips Past UC Irvine

UC Irvine turned in a solid effort against unbeaten and top-ranked San Jose State, but the Spartans held on for a 1-0 semifinal victory in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s soccer playoffs Friday at Titan Stadium.

San Jose’s Isaias Bardales scored the winning goal from 15 yards out in the 29th minute. Bardales took a pass from Ryan Suarez and his shot sailed over the head of Anteater goalkeeper Tyler Reid.

“They caught us stepping in on defense, and he made a good kick,” Irvine Coach George Kuntz said. “We were trying to keep our defense compact at the time.”

The victory boosted San Jose’s record to 19-0-1 heading into the tournament title game at 1 p.m. today against Cal State Fullerton. The Spartans, first in the Mountain Division in the regular season and ranked No. 1 in the National Soccer Coaches Assn. poll for the last four weeks, tied a school record for victories. Irvine fell to 12-8-1.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Kuntz said. “They dominated the first half, and I thought we dominated the second half. It could have gone either way. We felt that our strengths matched up well with them, but they’re a little older. This is a tremendous season for them.”