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SDSU MEN'S SOCCER CONTINUES HOME STAND VS. PT. LOMA NAZARENE AND UMKC
* The San Diego State men's soccer team (2-0-1) will continue its current seven-match home stand with a contest against local foe Pt. Loma Nazarene on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 4:00 p.m. on the SDSU Sports Deck. Three days later, the Aztecs will have their first-ever meeting with Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) when the Kangaroos visit the Sports Deck at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 18)..
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
* Pt. Loma Nazarene enters the week with a perfect 3-0 mark and will host Christian College on Tuesday (Sept. 13) before visiting SDSU. The Sea Lions, ranked second in NAIA Region II this week, are led by Brian Thames (5goals, 1 assist) and Derrick Thames (3 goals, 3 assists) from Chandler, Ariz. PLNU outscored its first three foes by an 11-4 margin.
* UMKC has compiled a mark of 0-2-1 through its first four contests, with two of those games going to overtime. The Kangaroos have two matches prior to nest Sunday's encounter with SDSU: Sept. 12 at William Jewell and Sept. 16 at university of San Diego. UMKC's has three players with a goal and three others with one assist each.
SERIES HISTORY
* San Diego State leads the series with Pt. Loma Nazarene, 10-1-1. The teams first faced off during the 1976 campaign with SDSU winning the first 10 meetings. The last two matches have produced a tie (1-1 at SDSU in 1998) and a Sea Lion victory (2-0 at PLNU in 2003).
* This will be the first meeting between San Diego State and Missouri-Kansas City on the soccer field.
BROTHER VS. BROTHER
* The SDSU-Pt. Loma Nazarene match will have a pair of brothers facing off on opposite sides of the ball. SDSU senior defender Mike Mercuriali is the brother of freshman defender Tony Mercuriali. The brothers hail from El Cajon and both attended Horizon High School.
LAST WEEK
* The Aztecs opened their 2005 home season with a 3-0 win over UC Riverside to improve to 23-0-2 on the year. SDSU opened the scoring at the 25:39 mark when Ryan Reott's cross for 35 yards out on the left side found the head of Kraig Chiles, who nodded the ball into the lower right corner. The Aztecs doubled their advantage courtesy of senior Heath Creager's second goal of the season at 76:24. Senior Raul Bautista made it a 3-0 game with just over a minute remaining.
KEEPING A CLEAN SHEET
* San Diego State recorded its third straight shutout in the win over UC Riverside last Saturday as junior goalie Tally Hall has yet to allow a goal through SDSU's first three matches. It marks the first time that the Aztecs have shut out three straight foes since the 1994 campaign when they blanked four opponents in a row. It is the first time in the history of the SDSU program that the Aztecs have started a season with three shutouts.
GOOD START
* SDSU's two wins and a draw to being the 2005 season is its best start since 1996 when the team began with the same record before dropping their fourth match. A win on Thursday would match the team's opening record of the 1989 season when it began with four wins and a tie in its first five outings.
REGIONAL RANKING
* San Diego State was ranked sixth in the Far West Region last week in the poll conducted by the National soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The five teams ahead of then in the region were all ranked among the top 25 in the nation (New Mexico-3, Santa Clara-4, Califronia-10, UCLA-15, Portland-23). The pool is released each week on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. The poll can be viewed each week at the time on the Internet at the following URL: http://nscaa.com/rankings/index_E.html