Aug. 25, 2011
SAN DIEGO -
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Men's Soccer Kicks Off 2011 Season Sunday at Home Versus Canisius
The San Diego State men's soccer team begins its quest for a Pac-10 championship, NCAA tournament berth and NCAA championship Sunday with a non-conference match against Canisius. Kickoff for the Aztecs and Griffs, who play at Cal State Northridge on Friday, is set for 3 p.m. PT.
A Brief Look at the Aztecs
The San Diego State men's soccer team begins its 2011 season Sunday on the heels of another successful campaign. In 2010, the Aztecs finished 10-7-2 for the program's first 10-win season since 1994 (10-9-0).
SDSU, which is picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 in a preseason poll released earlier this month, returns eight starters and 16 letterwinners from last year's squad. Additionally, San Diego State returns four of its top-six point scorers from a year ago, three of its top-five goal scorers and four of its 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 the Aztecs 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).
SDSU 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.
Scouting the Griffs
Canisius begins its season Friday at Cal State Northridge (7 p.m. PT). Last year, the Griffs finished 3-13-1, including a 3-6 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
Junior Sam Zarka is the team's top returning scorer after tallying six points on two goals and two assists a year ago. Juniors Regan Steele (one goal, two assists) and Andrew Incho (one goal, one assist) are the other top returning scorers for Canisius. Junior Kareem Gray (Gasparillo, Trinidad) returns to mind the nets after going 3-11-1 with a 1.52 goals against average last year.
Sunday will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
On the Docket: Alumni, Family and Friends Weekend
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 a San Diego State 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, the Aztecs 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.
Fans are encouraged to pack Torero Stadium and wear red.
SDSU Men's Soccer Picked Fourth in Pac-12 Preseason Poll
The San Diego State men's soccer team has been picked to finish fourth in the 2011 Pac-12 preseason poll, the league announced on Aug. 16.
The Aztecs garnered 13 points, three behind third-place Washington (16). UCLA has been selected to win the regular season title with 25 points, including five first-place votes, while California was picked second (21) with the other first-place vote. Stanford's 10 points were the fifth most in the poll and Oregon State rounded out the teams with five points.
San Diego State is scheduled to play 19 matches in 2011, highlighted by home contests against 2010 NCAA semifinalist Michigan (Oct. 22), 2010 NCAA second round participant Penn (Sept. 11) and Pac-10 foes California (Oct. 2) and UCLA (Nov. 12), which both advanced to the 2010 NCAA quarterfinals.
The Aztecs return eight starters and 11 letterwinners from the 2010 team that went 10-7-2, the program's first 10-win team since 1994 (10-9-0).
SDSU Men's Soccer's 2011 Recruiting Class Ranked No. 35 Nationally
San Diego State's 2011 men's soccer recruiting class has received a No. 35 national ranking from College Soccer News. It is the sixth time in the last seven seasons that they've been ranked in the top 40.
The 2011 recruiting class, consisting of eight players, includes 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 Aztecs are one of four Pac-10 squads to receive top-40 rankings. Stanford is rated No. 10, while Bay Area-rival California was ranked 13th and UCLA 21st. Perennial powerhouse UCLA picked up the top rated class, with California (No. 15) and Stanford (No. 31) also included. The Aztecs' No. 35 class is ahead of perennial power Creighton (No. 37) and Big West's UC Irvine (No. 39).
Jose Altamirano Ranked No. 67 in Preseason Top 100
San Diego State junior Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS) has been named to the Top Drawer Soccer's preseason Men's National Top-100 list, the website announced on Aug. 22 The midfielder is ranked 67th on the initial list and only three players in the Pac-12 Conference have a better ranking.
Last season, Altamirano had 11 points on one goal and nine assists en route to being named a second-team all-Pac-10 selection. The nine assists led the Aztecs and ranked third in the league (second in assists per game (0.47)). One of five SDSU players to start all 19 games in 2010, Altamirano logged 1,549 minutes (81:32 per game), the most of all midfielders and forwards. A U.S. Under-20 National Team member and 2009 honorable mention all-Pac-10 pick, Altamirano also garnered first-team Pac-10 All-Academic Team honors last year.
In all, 10 players from the Pac-12 were named to the preseason list.
SDSU Men's Soccer Ties UNLV 1-1 in its Lone Friendly of the Presason
The San Diego State men's soccer team battled back from an early deficit to tie up its exhibition contest against UNLV, but ultimately settled for a draw on Sunday afternoon at SDSU Sports Deck.
The Rebels notched the first goal of the game when Zach Kupfer's pass resulted in a header from Mike Mota that gave UNLV a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute.
In the second half, SDSU came out shooting as they outshot the Rebels by a 13-4 margin. The Aztecs' first scoring opportunity was in the 51st minute when junior forward Ata Ozbay's shot went wide right. Less than a minute later, the University of Wisconsin transfer had another chance to tie the game and this time was successful. Ozbay netted a shot from seven yards out, with midfielders Morgan Sacco and Kody Duff each assisting on the goal.
From that point on, it was a back-and-forth battle between San Diego State and UNLV until the 68th minute. The Aztecs then stepped up their intensity and began to dominate the possession. It started with consecutive shots by forward Jordan Ongaro. Rebel goalkeeper Simon Cook saved the first attempt by the redshirt sophomore, while the second shot by Ongaro was high. After four more scoring chances, SDSU had their best opportunity to take the lead in the 79th minute. After a foul on UNLV, Pedro Adan found junior midfielder Jose Altamirano, who was streaking toward the goal, but Altamirano's wide-open shot missed high, keeping the game at the 1-1 final.
For the contest, the Aztecs outshot UNLV by an 18-9 margin and won the corner kick battle, 8-5.
Ongaro led San Diego State with four shots with one on goal, while Ozbay had two shots, including one on goal.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Tim Peitsch played all 90 minutes for the Aztecs and notched two saves. For UNLV, meanwhile, Harding (67:40) and Cook (22:20) split time in goal.