Aug. 19, 2011
SAN DIEGO -
LIVE STATS | TRAINING IN OJAI | PICKED FOURTH IN PAC-12 | RECRUITING CLASS
The San Diego State men's soccer team plays host to UNLV in an exhibition match Sunday (Aug. 21) at SDSU Sports Deck. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. PT for the Aztecs' lone friendly of the season and admission is free to the public.
SDSU is coming off an intense week of training in Ojai, Calif., and has three intersquad scrimmages under its belt heading into Sunday's friendly.
San Diego State, which was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 in a preseason poll released earlier this week, returns eight starters and 16 letterwinners from the 2010 team that went 10-7-2, the program's first 10-win season since 1994 (10-9-0).
Additionally, the Aztecs return four of their top-six point scorers from a year ago, three of their top-five goal scorers and four of their top-six assist players, including leading assist man and 2010 second-team all-conference selection Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS) (1 goal, 9 assists).
Senior co-captain Daniel Steres (Calabasas, Calif.) (4 goals, 2 assists) also earned second-team accolades a year ago, while redshirt senior Justin Davies (San Diego/Brooks School (Mass.)) (3 goals, 1 assist) and sophomore Miles Byass (Highland, Calif.) (5 goals) return after being honorable mention all-Pac-10 picks last year.
Other returning starters for SDSU include redshirt senior co-captain Pedro Adan (San Diego/Preuss HS) (1 goal, 1 assist), sophomore defenders Robbie Freise (Canyon Country, Calif.), Tyrone Martin (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Casey Meuser (Granite Bay, Calif.) (3 assists), and sophomore midfielder Sean Zaher (Las Vegas, Nev.) (1 goal).
San Diego State also welcomes 12 newcomers, including two under-18 U.S. National Team members, a high school All-American, a youth All-American, three adidas ESP participants, a state player of the year as well as multiple starters on regional ODP teams. The recruiting class, which includes college transfers Kevin Bick (Louisville, Ky./Indiana Univ.), Michael Channell (Boca Raton, Fla./Furman Univ.), Ata Ozbay (Barrington, Ill./Univ. of Wisconsin) and Abraham Villon (Garden Grove, Calif./Arizona Western College), was recently ranked 35th in the nation by College Soccer News.
Sunday's game will be the final test before the season gets underway on Sunday, Aug. 28 with a home match against Canisius (3 p.m. PT).
The following weekend is Alumni, Family and Friends Weekend, highlighted by the annual Alumni Game on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 1 p.m. PT on SDSU Sports Deck. Also on the weekend will be an Aztecs' home match against Long Island (Friday, Sept. 2 at 1:30 p.m. PT) and a trip across town to play San Diego (Sunday, Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. PT) in the Battle of San Diego. Last year, SDSU downed USD, 3-2, before 3,143 fans at Torero Stadium. Interestingly, the road team has won each of the past five meetings in the series.
Tickets to all of San Diego State's home matches this season are free.
Upcoming Schedule For Men's Soccer (admission is free to all home games)
Sunday, Aug. 21 -- UNLV (Exhibition) -- SDSU Sports Deck -- 1 p.m. PT
Sunday, Aug. 28 -- Canisius -- SDSU Sports Deck -- 3 p.m. PT
Friday, Sept. 2 -- ~ Long Island -- SDSU Sports Deck -- 1:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, Sept. 3 -- ~ Alumni (Exhibition) -- SDSU Sports Deck -- 1 p.m. PT
Sunday, Sept. 4 -- ~ at San Diego (USD) -- San Diego, Calif. -- 8 p.m. PT
~ Alumni, Family and Friends Weekend