SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Sacramento State senior Zac Giles peppered the San Diego State defense to the tune of nine shot attempts on Friday night, but it was a pair of first-half goals by the Aztecs that proved to be the difference en route to a 2-0 win over the Hornets at the SDSU Sports Deck.
Friday's result was the fifth consecutive defeat for Sacramento State (1-5), while San Diego State picked up its second win of the year, improving to 2-1-3.
The nine-shot barrage by Giles marked a new career high, surpassing his previous best of seven at Saint Mary's on Aug. 27, and were the most shots by a Hornet since Isaac Flores finished with 12 (seven on frame) in a win over Jessup in 2011.
Overall, Giles accounted for more than half of his team's attempts on the night as Sacramento State finished with 14 shots to 16 for the Aztecs. Both teams, however, finished with just four shots on goal, while the Hornets had a 10-7 advantage in shots in the second half.
San Diego State opened the scoring in the 39th minute after drawing a foul inside the box and was awarded a penalty that Nik Orth converted for a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the very end of the first half when a ball played into the box was misdirected by a Hornet defender and snuck into the right-side netting for an own goal with one second remaining on the clock for a 2-0 advantage.
Pressing forward to start the second half, Giles had his team's first three shots of the period while defender Nick Strangio forced the Aztec keeper into a save in the 66th minute.
Neither team could dent the back of the net for the final 45 minutes, however, as San Diego State turned away any further threats from the Hornets' offense.
Sacramento State's 14 shot attempts marked the third double-digit total in that category this season, ranking behind only the team's 15 shots at Saint Mary's.
Having played their last four matches on the road, the Hornets return home for the first time since Aug. 23, hosting Pacific on Thursday (Sept. 17) at 4 p.m.
