Saint Mary's Men's Soccer defeated the San Jose State Spartans 4-2 on Monday evening at Saint Mary's Stadium, scoring two unanswered goals in the final 11 minutes.

The Gaels fell behind 1-0 early on due to the speed of the San Jose Spartans and their quick-attack mentality in the 7^th minute. But that just seemed to fire up the Gaels as they then took over the possession time for the rest of the half and took the action to the Spartans.
 
Saint Mary's put the pressure on the San Jose State defense as the majority of play occurred in the attack zone for the Gaels for the rest of the half. They would break through and even the game up at one apiece in a way that was emblematic of their relentless attack after allowing the first goal.
 
A corner kick put high into the box led to the Spartans keeper having to come out and try to corral it. With the keeper outside of the six-yard box Defenseman Christian Engmann tried to take advantage of the exposed keeper, firing two hard shots that the Spartans goalie had to dive to stop. Sophomore Andrew Rotter had a shot blocked that caromed to freshman Bourdanne Ngongfor who blasted a shot into the left corner of the net for his first collegiate goal tying the game at 1-1 in the 35^th minute.
 
As the second half began it was the Gaels that came out fast with freshman Gael Quintero dribbling from the middle of the field to the right side of the penalty box, getting the ball to fellow freshman Riley Lynch who faked left, faked right and lofted one over the keeper for a 2-1 lead in the 57^th minute. The shot had so much backspin it went over the keeper, into the goal, and spun back out without ever touching the net for Lynch's second goal of the season.
 
But in the 79^th minute a foul was called on the Gaels that seemed a bit light, as the Spartans attacker appeared to just land hard after his own jump with minimal contact. The ensuing free kick was shot brilliantly by the Spartans Max Allen into the upper right corner of the net past a leaping Kash Oladapo who had little chance to stop the perfect shot to tie the game at 2-2. Oladapo did make multiple diving stops in the game to prevent the Spartans from tying it up earlier in the match and to keep the Gaels from falling behind after the equalizer.
 
Once again, however, the Gaels answered as Louis Sterobo delivered a perfect pass from beyond the midfield stripe right to Philippe Van der Lof just outside of the box. Van der Lof flicked the ball around the keeper who tried to beat the Gaels midfielder to the ball, and Van der Lof played it off the bounce with his right foot to put it in the back of the net in the 88^th minute for his second goal of the season and a 3-2 Gaels lead.
 
The Gaels weren't done yet as senior David Brog led freshman Jack Vestberg downfield in the 89^th minute and Vestberg put one past the keeper just before time expired for his third goal of the year and a 4-2 Saint Mary's Victory.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will take a short trip north to take on UC Davis at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 16.

#GaelsRise — Single game tickets are on sale through the month of September! To select your game and your tickets, click HERE!