Iain Wagner supplied the strike from distance. Taj Eagleston supplied the second touch in the box. Together, their goals 17 minutes apart gave No. 9 USD enough of a cushion to beat San Diego State 2-1 Sunday night at Torero Stadium and extend the Toreros' winning streak to three.
USD pressed the rivalry match into the Aztecs' half from the opening exchanges. The Toreros attempted seven first-half shots to SDSU's one, put four on target and earned four corners. Wagner converted the pressure in the 17th minute after Luca Fava's corner was headed clear. Matteo Salcedo collected the loose ball and protected it long enough for Wagner to run onto a left-footed shot from 25 yards that reached the bottom-left corner.
Eagleston doubled the lead in the 34th minute. Samy Kanaan played the ball back to Fava, whose first-time cross from the left was not cleared cleanly. Eagleston met it near the edge of the penalty area and finished with his left foot. It was his third goal of the season and second consecutive game-winner, a sequence that rewarded USD for keeping the Aztecs under repeated pressure rather than retreating after the opener.
San Diego continued to generate territory after halftime. The Toreros added nine shots and six corners, finishing with a 16-7 advantage in attempts and a 10-3 edge in corners. SDSU goalkeeper Leo Popp made five saves. At the other end, Lucca Adams faced only two shots on target and stopped one during a full 90-minute shift.
The one he did not stop arrived with 14 seconds left. Jonah Kawamura and Max Mair combined on a right-side corner, and Dylan Presto scored after the ball was headed down and his shot took a deflection. The late goal changed the margin but not the control of the match; USD handled the restart and the clock expired before SDSU could manufacture another attack.
The announced crowd of 2,242 was USD's largest for a regular-season men's soccer match since 2,539 attended a 2017 victory over UCLA. Eighteen Toreros appeared Sunday. Fava, Kanaan and Salcedo collected assists, while Wagner led the attack with four shots. The distribution of minutes and chances mattered in a game that paired a nationally ranked host with a crosstown opponent familiar with the setting and stakes.
USD improved to 5-1-1 and remained unbeaten over four matches. SDSU fell to 2-2-3. The records do not flatten the difference in Sunday's plan: the Toreros used restarts and recycled possession to keep creating second opportunities, then converted two of them before the break. SDSU's late set-piece goal showed the vulnerability of carrying a two-goal margin to the final whistle, but it came after USD had conceded little else.
The Toreros now leave the city for Kansas City on Sept. 20. Their most useful tape from the rivalry win will begin before either goal, with the positioning that produced clearances and the patience that recovered them. Wagner and Eagleston finished the moves, but the match was built through the repeated first-half entries that made those finishes more likely.