UCLA: Westwood, California:
In a game marred with multiple penalties and skill breakdowns, the Aztecs hung on to beat a determined and improved UCLA squad 27-14. 

 Both teams felt eachother out exchanging multiple kicks as the teams probed to establish a territorial gain.   In the 9th minute Anton Mironov was the benefactor of a SDSU driving maul from a lineout 5 meters from the UCLA line to give the Aztecs a 5-0 lead.  The majority of the half featured a sea saw battle with neither team able to put together consistent continuity, and UCLA able to keep the Aztecs on the back foot with clever kicking.  In the 36th 8 man Tanner Kouba crashed over for a try which center Duncan Kelm converted to give the Aztecs a 12-0 lead.  As the half finished, UCLA picked off an SDSU pass as the forged toward the UCLA line and raced 80 meters for the try for a score of 12-7 going into halftime.

The Aztecs started the 2nd half stronger with flanker Tyler Kaushagen scoring in the 52nd minute, with Kelm converting again.  Kelm then followed this up with a try of his own to bring the score to 24-7 with 17 minutes to play.  Shortly after, when a skirmish behind the play broke out, prop Darrell Honaker was red carded leaving the Aztecs down a man for the final quarter.  The game on the whole was riddled with penalties, 25 in total, with the Aztecs suffering 15.  UCLA was again the benefactor of an interception and long breakaway against the grain of play in the 77th minute to bring the score to 24-14.  Shortly after, the game concluded with a Kelm penalty.

While happy with the victory, coach Matt Sherman was quick to address that there is much to work on moving forward, ‘We struggled to patch together positive moments in sequence and UCLA did a very good job of keeping us on the back foot with some clever kicking, that we often struggled to handle.  We were also our own worst enemy at times, and conceding 15 penalties is certainly something we will have to address.  However,  we’re happy to come away with a bonus point victory in our first league game against a much improved UCLA team.  We’ll use this as a starting point and now get busy immediately addressing areas we need to improve on.’

In the B Side match, the Aztecs built upon a slim 5-3 first half lead, with a much improved 2nd half performance to win 24-3.  Flanker Mike Shea and Center Dale Turori stood out for the Aztecs, both on their debut with the other team.

The Aztecs will play their 2nd league game, and 2nd in a row on the road at UC Santa Barbara this Friday 1/15 with the B Side match at 6pm and A Side match at 8 pm in Harder Stadium.

SDSU 27; UCLA 14

Min 9: Anton Mironov Try
Min 35:Tanner Kouba Try, Duncan Kelm Conversion
Min 40: UCLA Try and Conversion
Half: SDSU 12; UCLA 7

Min 52: Tyler Kaushagen Try, Duncan Kelm Conversion
Min 63: Duncan Kelm Try
Min 64: SDSU Red Card Darrel Honaker
Min 77: UCLA Try and Conversion
Min 80: Duncan Kelm Penalty
Final: SDSU 27-UCLA 14  

 1 Brenden Purcell ; 2 Jeff Sparks; 3 Darrell  Honaker; 4 Alex Main; 5 Anton  Mironov; 6 Dave Buboltz; 7 Tyler  Kaushagen; 8 Tanner  Kouba; 9 Jamie  Purcell; 10 Ryan O’Connor; 11 Chris Bredeson; 12 Jamie Kelm; 13 Duncan Kelm; 14 Mike Hicks; 15 Alex Ross; 16 James Daleo;17 Morgan Gagel; 18 Scott Brown; 19 Mike Shea; 20 Will Pidd;21 Joe Silvestri; 22 Marco Segura

B Side: SDSU 24; UCLA 3

4: UCLA Pen
37: Marco Segura Try
Halftime Score: 5-3

48: Mike Shea Try and Dale Turori Conversion
56 Dale Turori
65: Brandon Villar Try and Dale Turori
Final: SDSU 24; UCLA 3
 
 1 Zach Shapiro; 2 James Daleo; 3 Morgan Gagel; 4 Kyle Quirk; 5 Scott Brown; 6 Kyle  Berchin; 7 Mike Shea; 8 Andrew  Hinkel-Lipsker; 9 Will Pidd; 10 Joe Silvestri; 11 Marco Segura; 12 Max Roemer; 13 Dale  Turori; 14 Austin  Freeman; 15 Brandon Villar; 16 Devin Keller; 17 Adrian  Torres; 18 Kyle McSpadden; 19 Adam DeJong; 20   Bren Winbrock