Behind the solid goalkeeping of junior
Stockton Short, Utah Tech men's soccer earned a 0-0 tie at San José State on Thursday night at the Spartan Soccer Complex. With the draw, UT earned its first point in WAC play this season.
Short notched his fifth career shutout and first this season on five saves. With the shutout, Short moves up to tie for the fourth-most career clean sheets in UT history.
The Spartans tested Short early in the match, but he stopped SJSU graduate Jarette Barajas' shot toward the bottom left of his net to earn his first save of the match in the 10th minute.
Utah Tech's first chance came on a free kick in the 14th minute after sophomore
Jason Buezo was fouled. Senior
Damian Arguello got off a shot but it was off-target.
In the 25th minute, sophomore
Manu Monserrat fired a shot to the top center of the net, but SJSU goalkeeper Edgar Guerra stood in the way to stop UT's first shot on goal.
Redshirt freshman
Tanner Dutra was shown yellow for dissent in the 45th minute right before both teams went to the locker room level at 0-0.
Just after the break, Short earned his second save of the night on another shot by Barajas to the bottom right of the net in the 47th minute.
In the 55th minute, Short stood strong again, denying a shot by Spartan freshman Jordi Tortell Daly down the middle of the net.
Sophomore
Samir Cuevas challenged Guerra with a shot to the bottom left of the net, but Guerra logged a save in the 80th minute.
Just over 30 seconds later, Short recorded his fourth save of the night on a shot down the middle by SJSU junior Eamon Fakhri.
Short tallied his final save of the night on a shot by sophomore Ruben Flores-Thomas to the bottom right of the goal in the 82nd minute.
In the final five minutes, senior
Angel Saldana and Short were shown yellow cards for unsporting behavior and time wasting, respectively.
San José State (3-4-5, 2-0-1 WAC) outshot the Trailblazers 17-8, with a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. Utah Tech (1-7-3, 0-2-1 WAC) committed more fouls than the SJSU at a clip of 11-10. The Spartans were caught offsides three times while UT was flagged just once.
The Trailblazers end their road trip with a match at Seattle U on Sunday, Oct. 13, at Championship Field in Seattle. First touch is set for 2 p.m. (MT) and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
