Aug. 21, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
AZTEC MEN'S SOCCER PREVIEW: PART 2 | AZTEC MEN'S SOCCER PREVIEW: PART 3
The San Diego State men's soccer heads into the 2007 season with high hopes of reaching its third consecutive NCAA tournament. In various preseason polls, the Aztecs are ranked No. 21 by Top Drawer Soccer, No. 25 by College Soccer News and are receiving votes by NSCAA/adidas. College Soccer News also has rated the 2007 incoming recruiting class as the 19th-best in the nation.
In addition, sophomore Nick Cardenas has been chosen as a preseason All-America selection by College Soccer News, while the same website lists incoming freshmen Gemechu Abraham and Kellen Frye as 100 Freshmen to Keep an Eye On.
With the season rapidly approaching (SDSU's first game is at Creighton on Aug. 31), GoAztecs.com will examine the 2007 Aztecs in a special three-day preview as they attempt to reach the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season.
Tuesday will focus on the outlook and goalkeepers, Wednesday will feature the defenders and midfielders and Thursday will preview the forwards and schedule.
Outlook
Following another successful season in which the San Diego State men's soccer team finished second in the Pac-10 and advanced the NCAA tournament in back-to-back years for the first time since 1988-89, one must ask what can the 2007 Aztecs do for an encore?
When you consider that SDSU has 18 letterwinners and seven starters returning, including four all-conference selections, and a second straight top-20 nationally ranked recruiting class, the Aztecs don't look to be leaving the national spotlight anytime soon.
San Diego State went 9-6-4 last season and 5-2-3 in the Pac-10 to finish second in only its second year in the league. Three of its nine victories came against nationally ranked opponents, including a sweep of the Pac-10 champion California and another win over No. 4 Washington.
The Aztecs nearly defeated eventual national champion UC Santa Barbara in the first round on the road before giving up two goals in the final 25 minutes in a 2-1 loss. It was the second consecutive season San Diego State made the tournament but fell on the road to the Gauchos.
"If before the 2006 season someone offered me a first round loss to the eventual national champion, I would have gladly taken that," eighth-year head coach Lev Kirshner said. "What ultimately transpired is that we thought we had a chance to go deep into the tournament and we showed that by leading (UC Santa Barbara) more than an hour into the match. There is a belief on this squad that we are better than a first round and out team. Our goal every year is to be a Pac-10 champion and a national champion."
Goalkeepers
After losing two-time All-American, 2006 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy semifinalist and three-year starter Tally Hall to graduation, one might think that goalkeeping would be a major obstacle for San Diego State to climb in order to reach its third consecutive NCAA tournament.
Kirshner and assistant/goalkeeping coach Matt Hall, however, have a very strong seven-year track record that has seen Aztec goalkeepers garner all-conference accolades in each of the seven seasons.
"Our goalkeeping has never been an issue here," Kirshner said. "We have had postseason honors every single year that Matt (Hall) and I have been here. You lose a lot in Tally Hall as a human being and obviously his goalkeeping is something we will sorely miss, but we won't be deficient in goal. We will have very good goalkeeper again, the only concern is experience."
And a big concern it is considering each of the four goalkeepers - junior Ryan Bowie, junior Jorge Rosales, redshirt freshman Brad Byrns and true freshman Morgan Maestas - has not played a single minute at SDSU. Only Cañada junior transfer Rosales has seen college action.
"Ryan (Bowie) has been here and has put in his time," Kirshner said. "He will be the one who has to be beaten out, but the competitive level of our goalkeeping is going to create a fierce competition for the starting job."