March 24, 2003
SAN DIEGO - Five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, an East Coast trip to face two national powers and a pair of home matches against local opponents highlight the San Diego State men's soccer team's 2003 schedule, announced by head coach Lev Kirshner. In addition, the Aztecs host three conference foes at the SDSU Sports Deck while competing again in one of the nation's most competitive soccer leagues, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The Aztec program, coming off an injury-plagued 2002 season in which it competed against six eventual tournament teams and defeated then-No. 7 Loyola Marymount for its biggest win in 13 years, has again raised the level of its competition with its 2003 non-conference slate. SDSU faces four non-conference 2002 tourney teams, beginning with the season opener against Pac-10 power Oregon State on August 29 at the Sports Deck. After three straight home contests to start the season, SDSU travels to Las Vegas Sept. 19 and 21 for contests on the UNLV campus against Bowling Green and Drake. The Aztecs return home the next weekend for games against Hofstra (Sept. 26) and Albany (Sept. 28).
The gem of the early season schedule is an East Coast trip over the first weekend of October to Kirshner's alma mater Rutgers, where SDSU faces the powerhouse Scarlet Knights and an NCAA Sweet 16 team from a year ago, St. John's.
Also on the pre-conference schedule is UC Riverside (Sept. 13) and back-to-back home matches versus local foes San Diego (Oct. 11) and Point Loma Nazarene (Oct. 14). SDSU also has a chance to relive its 2002 overtime win against WCC power LMU when it travels to Los Angeles Nov. 5.
SDSU begins MPSF play with another trip to Vegas on Oct. 20 to face UNLV. The Aztecs' home MPSF slate includes Denver (Oct. 24), Air Force (Oct. 26) and 2002 MPSF champion New Mexico (Nov. 9), while they travel to San Jose State and Sacramento State for the Oct. 31-Nov. 2 weekend. The MPSF Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 13-16.
2003 San Diego State Men's Soccer Schedule(As of March 24, 2003)
Date Opponent Site TimeAugust29 OREGON STATE SDSU Sports Deck 4 p.m.31 LIU SDSU Sports Deck 2 p.m.
September13 UC RIVERSIDE SDSU Sports Deck 4 p.m.19 vs. Bowling Green Las Vegas, Nev. (at UNLV) 5 p.m.21 vs. Drake Las Vegas, Nev. (at UNLV) 2 p.m.26 HOFSTRA SDSU Sports Deck 4 p.m.28 ALBANY SDSU Sports Deck 2 p.m.
October3 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. 7 p.m.5 vs. St. John's (at Rutgers) Piscataway, N.J. 2 p.m.11 SAN DIEGO SDSU Sports Deck 3 p.m.14 POINT LOMA NAZARENE SDSU Sports Deck 4 p.m.20 at UNLV* Las Vegas, Nev. 7 p.m.24 DENVER* SDSU Sports Deck 3 p.m.26 AIR FORCE* SDSU Sports Deck 1 p.m.31 at San Jose State* San Jose, Calif. TBA
November2 at Sacramento State* Sacramento, Calif. TBA5 at Loyola Marymount Los Angeles, Calif. 3 p.m.9 NEW MEXICO* SDSU Sports Deck 1 p.m.13-16 MPSF Championship TBA TBA
Home matches in ALL CAPS. * - Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match.