Box Score DENVER Freshman forward Sam Garza (Highland Village, Texas) had two goals and an assist, as the University of Denver men’s soccer team fought to a 3-3 draw with San Jose State at Pioneer Field on Friday afternoon.
“The guys showed an unbelievable amount of character to come back after being down by two and then down again,” head coach Bobby Muuss said. “Hopefully we can use today’s effort to catapult us into the final games of the season. We are disappointed that we didn’t pull out the win, but I can’t say enough about the character this team showed.”
The Pioneers (7-5-2, 5-0-1 MPSF) remain undefeated in conference play after overcoming a pair of deficits in the second half.
San Jose State (7-5-4, 1-4-1 MPSF) jumped to an early lead, when Oscar Yniguez fired a shot from just inside the box off an assist from Efrain Burgos in the 21st minute.
Burgos extended the lead just seven minutes later, scoring from the top of the box after Brian McGuire fed him from the right corner.
Both shots had eight shots in the first half, but the Spartans took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Denver cut the lead with 33:12 left in the game. Senior midfielder Joey Mathot (Port Moody, B.C.) took the ball up the right side and passed to Garza, who beat a pair of defenders and fired in a shot past Spartans goalkeeper Richard Mann.
Less than a minute later, Garza tied the game. After stealing a pass and beating the defenders, Garza chipped a shot over a diving Mann.
San Jose State reclaimed the lead in the 68th minute. Colby Moore stole the ball and beat sophomore goalkeeper Joe Willis (St. Louis, Mo.) one-on-one.
The Pioneers tied it again with 9:45 remaining in regulation. Mathot took the ball up the right side and fired in a pass to Garza. After dribbling through three defenders, Garza passed to the center of the box and senior Kyle Christensen (Layton, Utah) nailed a one-timer past Mann.
Denver out-shot San Jose State 17-3 during its comeback in the second half and 6-0 in the first overtime.
On a corner with eight minutes left in the second overtime, sophomore defender Ryan Aweida (Broomfield, Colo.) drilled a header off a corner kick, but the San Jose State goalkeeper smothered it.
Less than a minute later, Mathot weaved through the defense, but fired a shot just wide.
With 4:32 left, Willis came out to stop a one-on-one against Moore, and Josh Boemecke fired a shot over the goal.
The Pioneers next take on Sacramento State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
