Oct. 13, 2010
SAN DIEGO -
Complete Release in PDF Format
No. 30 SDSU Men's Soccer Heads to Bay Area For Pac-10 Games at No. 10 California, Stanford
The San Diego State men's soccer team wraps up its three-game road trip this week in the Bay Area against California and Stanford. The Aztecs (7-3-1, 1-2-0 Pac-10), who are ranked No. 30 by College Soccer News, No. 33 by Top Drawer Soccer and receiving votes in two other polls, will meet the Bears (7-1-2, 3-0-0 Pac-10) at 4 p.m. PT Friday and the Cardinal (5-6-0, 1-2-0 Pac-10) at 2:30 p.m. PT Sunday. Cal is ranked as high as No. 10 by NSCAA/HendrickCars.com, while Stanford began the season at No. 13 in the same poll.
Noting the Aztecs
* San Diego State is off to a 7-3-1 (.682) start, its best since the 2005 season, when it started 7-1-3 (.773). The Aztecs went onto finish 2005 with a 9-4-6 record, earning their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 16 years. The .682 winning percentage is tied for the 30th-best record in the country.
* SDSU began its season with a seven-game (6-0-1) unbeaten streak, outscoring the opposition, 15-4. The seven-match unbeaten streak was the program's longest since an eight-game undefeated span in 2007 (Sept. 9-Oct. 14) and tied for the eighth-longest in program history.
* A week after being ranked in all five national polls for the first time since 2005, San Diego State is still around in the national scene. The Aztecs are ranked No. 30 by College Soccer News and No. 33 by Top Drawer Soccer, and are receiving votes by both NSCAA/HendrickCars.com and Soccer America.
* SDSU is fifth in the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com Far West Region poll. Last week, San Diego State was fourth and two weeks ago it was third, the highest in head coach Lev Kirshner's 11-year tenure. The Aztecs are surrounded by the Pac-10 as California is second, UCLA is third and Washington is ninth.
* SDSU has already bettered its win total (seven) from each of its past two seasons (6-6-6 in 2009, 6-9-3 in 2008).
* San Diego State is 5-0-1 in tournament games in 2010.
* The Aztecs are scoring 1.91 goals per game, which is tied for the 29th-most in the nation and second in the Pac-10.
* SDSU is outscoring its opponents, 21-12, this season. The +9 scoring margin ranks second in the Pac-10.
* Senior Raymundo Reza (Denver, Colo.) leads the team in points (16), goals (6), penalty kick goals (3), shots (40), shots on goal (17), and is tied for first with two game-winning goals. Among the national leaders, Reza ranks in a tie for 32nd with 1.45 points per game and in a tie for 38th (and leads the league) with 0.55 goals per game. Sophomore Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS), meanwhile, is 11th in the country with 0.64 assists per game.
* Reza has started 47 consecutive matches.
A Glance at the Bears
California is off to an impressive 7-1-2 start, including a perfect 3-0-0 record in Pac-10 play. The Bears, who are ranked 10th by NSCAA/HendrickCars.com, 11th by Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer, 13th by Soccer Times and 15th by College Soccer News, have outscored their opponents, 23-7, this season, including a 12-1 advantage in league play. Cal brings a seven-match unbeaten streak into Friday's game.
Davis Paul leads the Pac-10 with 1.50 points per game on five goals and five assists. John Fitzpatrick has added 12 points on five goals and two assists. David Bingham leads all league keepers in goals against average (0.65), save percentage (.883), saves (53) and saves per game (5.30).
SDSU leads the all-time series, 17-12-2, including a 7-2-1 mark in Pac-10 play. What's even more impressive is that Cal has been ranked in all 10 of the matches in the Aztecs' Pac-10 era, while San Diego State has not. When the Bears are No. 10 or better, SDSU owns a 4-1-1 record since 2005.
Scouting the Cardinal
Stanford began the season ranked No. 13 by NSCAA/HendrickCars.com, but lost its first four games and is now 5-6-0 (1-2-0 Pac-10). The three points in league play has the Cardinal tied with the Aztecs, Oregon State and Washington for third place, three points behind co-leaders California and UCLA.
Dominique Yahyavi leads Stanford offensively with 11 points on five goals and an assist. Hermann Award candidate and Lowe's Senior Class Award finalist Bobby Warshaw has chipped in with three goals. Jason Dodson has been the top goalkeeper for the Cardinal, going 4-4-0 with a 0.97 goals against average and three shutouts.
San Diego State leads the all-time series between the two schools, 10-4-5, and a 5-1-3 mark in SDSU's Pac-10 era (since 2005). The Aztecs are 5-3-2 in Palo Alto all-time and 2-2-1 since 2005. The two teams split the series last year, with each squad winning a 2-1 decision on the road on a golden goal in overtime.
San Diego State and the RPI
The Aztecs are ranked No. 65 in the first RPI of the season, which was released Monday (Oct. 11). The rating, a mathematical formula that objectively compares results, strength of schedule and opponents' strength of schedule, is out of 204 Division I programs.
A year ago, SDSU was rated No. 56 in the initial RPI before skyrocketing to No. 11 two weeks later after the Pac-10 season got into full swing.
If the ratings stayed the same for the rest of the season (it changes each week), San Diego State would play five of its 19 games (26.3 percent) against the top 36 and seven (36.8 percent) of the top 60.
SDSU Held Scoreless For the First Time in 13 games
The San Diego State men's soccer team yielded a late goal in a 1-0 loss to No. 8 UCLA Saturday in Los Angeles. It was the first time the Aztecs were held scoreless since Nov. 6, 2009, breaking the team's 12-game scoring streak. It was the longest scoring streak by the program since a 13-match stretch from Oct. 19, 1990-Sept. 29, 1991. In fact, the 12 consecutive games with at least one goal is tied for the 10th-longest in the history of the program. Over the course of the 1986 and 1987 seasons, the Aztecs scored at least one goal in a school-record 46 consecutive games
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