Sept. 1, 2011
SAN DIEGO -
Aztecs Host Long Island, Alumni; Travel to USD for Alumni Weekend
The San Diego State men's soccer team begins its annual Family, Friends and Alumni weekend Friday with a game against Long Island at 1:30 p.m. PT at SDSU Sports Deck. The Alumni Game will take place on Saturday (Sept. 3), followed by the Battle of San Diego between SDSU and USD on Sunday (Sept. 4) at 8 p.m. PT at Torero Stadium. Fans are encouraged to attend and wear red.
Last Time Out With the Aztecs
Sophomore Miles Byass (Highland, Calif.) and redshirt sophomore Jordan Ongaro (Edmonton, Alberta) each had a goal and assisted on another to lead the San Diego State men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Canisius Sunday at SDSU Sports Deck.
The Aztecs (1-0), who won their season opener for the first time since 2006, controlled possession and dictated the pace of the match from the opening whistle. SDSU outshot the Griffs (0-2), 20-9, including a 9-4 advantage on net. San Diego State also outcornered Canisius, 10-6.
The Griffs struck first on their first attempt in the 21st minute when Sam Zarka sent a through ball to the left side where Will Hudson beat SDSU redshirt sophomore Blake Hylen (San Diego/Torrey Pines HS) into the right corner.
San Diego State bounced back with a barrage of opportunities, including a 20-yard shot by Junior Ata Ozbay (Barrington, Ill.) that was stopped by a diving Canisius goalkeeper (Kareem Gray) in the 27th minute and a 30-yard blast from Byass on a free kick that ringed off the crossbar in the 36th minute.
The Aztecs finally tied it at the 37:27 mark when Ongaro settled Byass' corner kick, turned and scored from 13 yards. It was the first career collegiate goal for Ongaro.
A little more than four minutes later, Byass gave SDSU a 2-1 lead when his 25-yard attempt deflected off the hands of the diving Gray and into the lower-left corner. Byass now has six goals over his last six games, dating back to last season. Sophomore Sean Zaher (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Ongaro were credited with assists on the game-winning goal.
Neither team would score in the second half, giving the Aztecs the 2-1 win.
Hylen finished with three saves to pick up his first collegiate victory. His counterpart, Gray, had seven saves, two days after making a career-high 10 stops in a loss at Cal State Northridge.
Ongaro led all players with four shots, including two on net, while Byass and Ozbay (all on net) each added three attempts. Junior Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS), redshirt sophomore John Pegg (Edmonton, Alberta), redshirt sophomore Morgan Sacco (Greeley, Colo.) and senior co-captain Daniel Steres (Calabasas, Calif.) had two shots apiece for the victors.
Scouting the Blackbirds
Long Island will be making its season debut Friday against the Aztecs. The Blackbirds finished the 2010 season with a 7-10-1 record, including a 4-5-1 mark in the Northeastern Conference.
The 1-2-3 punch of Steve Jakubowski (4 goals, 6 assists), Jakeem Johnson (6 goals, 1 assist) and Juan Lanza (4 goals, 3 assists) accounted for 66.3 percent of the team's points last year (38-of-60), 66.7 percent of the team's goals (14-of-21) and 55.6 percent of the team's assists (10-of-18). Both Jakubowski and Johnson return this year. All three of the Blackbirds' goalkeepers return, with Adam Janssen leading last year's squad with a 6-8-1 record and 1.51 goals against average over 1,311-plus minutes.
SDSU and LIU have met twice before with the Aztecs coming out on both occasions. San Diego State won, 2-0, on Aug. 31, 2003 and 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 17, 2006.
A Glance at the Toreros
San Diego lost its lone match of the season, a 1-0 setback at 17th-ranked UC Irvine on Friday. The Toreros were outshot, 17-5, but only four of the Anteaters' attempts were on net. Patrick Wallen, who along with Stephen Posa were placed on the preseason all-West Coast Conference team, had a team-high two shots. Adam Campbell played all 90 minutes in net and made three saves.
SDSU leads the all-time series,11-5-2, including a 3-2 victory last season in front of 3,143 at Torero Stadium. Raymundo Reza had two goals and an assist to pace the Aztecs, while current sophomores Kody Duff and Jordan Ongaro each had assists. The road team has won each of the past five games in the series.
At the Helm
Lev Kirshner is in his 12th year as head coach at San Diego State and 15th season overall. Kirshner, just one of three coaches in the 43-year history of the program, has brought SDSU back to the national spotlight with two trips to the NCAA tournament since he helped orchestrate the program's move to the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) in 2005.
Since the men's soccer team earned its full allotment of scholarships (2005), the Aztecs have gone 49-39-25 (.544), including a 20-23-17 (.475) mark in the competitive Pac-12.
Over his 11 seasons, Kirshner has coached two All-America selections, three Academic All-America picks, 10 professional players, eight all-Far West selections and 57 all-conference picks.
Captaining the Aztecs
Redshirt senior Pedro Adan (San Diego/Preuss HS) and senior Daniel Steres (Calabasas, Calif.) joined the long list of captains in the storied program when they were announced to the team in the spring.
Over his first four seasons (he redshirted 2007), Adan has played in 47 games, earning starts in 35 of the them. He has tallied five points on a goal and three assists, while controlling possession in the midfield. Last year, Adan played a career-high 1,055 minutes and also set a career best in shots (16) and tied a career high in shots on goal (three).
Steres, meanwhile, became the first two-time captain since Raul Bautista captained the squad in 2005 and 2006 (both NCAA tournament teams). Steres is a two-time all-Pac-10 honoree, including a second-team selection last year as a junior. He has started 50 times over his 54 appearances, registering 21 points on eight goals and five assists. Last year, Steres started all 18 games he appeared in, and had 10 points on four goals and two assists, despite predominately playing in the back.
A Win in the Opener...
* The 2-1 victory over Canisius on Sunday gave the Aztecs a win in their season-opening game for the first time since the 2006 season.
* SDSU had lost its past three lidlifters, all by one goal and two in overtime, after tying at Creighton, 2-2, in 2007. * The last two times San Diego State won its season-opening match (2005 and 2006) were ironically the last two years the Aztecs made the NCAA Tournament.
* SDSU hasn't started 2-0 since 2006 and 3-0 since 1992.
Other Notes; Two Goals is Key...
* Despite surrendering a goal on Canisius' first shot, the Aztecs bounced back for two to end the half with a 2-1 lead. SDSU has now won 10 consecutive matches when leading at the half.
* Two goals seems to be the magic number. After beating the Griffs, 2-1, on Sunday, San Diego State has won 10 straight games (no ties) when scoring at least two goals. In fact, the Aztecs' last loss when scoring at least two goals was Sept. 5, 2008 in a 3-2 setback in overtime to Michigan. Since then, a span of 23 matches, SDSU has gone 16-0-7. Since San Diego State joined the Pac-12 (formerly the Pac-10) in 2005, the Aztecs have gone 32-2-7 when scoring at least two times. Under Lev Kirshner, now in his 12th season, SDSU is 59-9-9 when scoring at least twice in a match.
Miles Above the Rest
Sophomore Miles Byass (Highland, Calif.) is certainly making his case of being mentioned among the top strikers in the country. After being held scoreless his first nine appearances of his career last year, Byass has been on a tear ever since. Byass has six goals over his last six games, including two game-winners.
What may even be more impressive for the 2010 honorable-mention all-Pac-10 selection is ability to score despite not playing that many minutes. Over the last six matches, Byass' six goals have come over 334 minutes. That means he is averaging 1.62 goals per 90-minute regulation match.
This year, Byass has one goal and one assist in 44 minutes.
Speaking of Miles...Miles Byass Named Pac-12 Player of the Week
San Diego State sophomore Miles Byass has been named the Pac-12 Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week, Commissioner Larry Scott announced Monday. It is the first weekly award for the Highland, Calif., native.
A 2010 honorable mention all-conference pick, Byass came off the bench to score the game-winning goal in the 42nd minute and assisted on the game-tying goal in the 38th to help the Aztecs defeat Canisius, 2-1, on Sunday. It was SDSU's first season-opening victory since 2006. San Diego State ended up making its second consecutive NCAA tournament that year, finishing with a 9-6-4 record.
Byass also ringed a shot attempt off the crossbar in the 36th minute. For the match, Byass had three shots in just 44 minutes of action.
Dating back to last season, Byass has scored six goals over his last six matches.
Jose Altamirano Ranked 67th in Top Drawer Soccer 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.
This year, Altamirano has two shots (one on net) in 64 minutes.
In all, 10 players from the Pac-12 were named to the preseason list.
Former Aztec Joe Corona Called Up to Mexican U-22 National Team
Former San Diego State men's soccer player Joe Corona (San Diego/Sweetwater HS) has recently been called up to the Mexican Under-22 National Team.
Corona, who chose Mexico over the United States and El Salvador, was called up to the team on Aug. 24 in preparation for a pair of friendlies with Chile on Sept. 2 and Sept. 6. Corona is one of 23 players on the current roster.
Prior to his call-up, Corona had started all six matches with the Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles of Mexico's first division, where he scored two goals on nine shots (four on net).
Corona is the eighth Aztec since 2006 to be called up to a national team, joining current players Jose Altamirano (United States U-20's), Jordan Ongaro (Canada U-20's) and John Pegg (Canada U-20's), and former players Nick Cardenas (U.S. U-20's), Myles Davis (Canada U-23's), Tally Hall (U.S. U-23's) and Omar Persad (Jamaica U-20's).
Other current SDSU players who have been part of the national pool or played for a national team prior to coming to Montezuma Road include Gemechu Abraham (U.S. U-17's), Kevin Bick (U.S. U-18's), Miles Byass (U.S. U-18's), Daniel Kohen (U.S. Maccabiah team), Ongaro (Canada U-17 and U-20's) and Abraham Villon (U.S. U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-18's).
Corona spent one year with San Diego State before joining the professional ranks, accumulating seven points in 2008 on three goals and an assist in just 501 minutes. A midfielder, he played in 15 matches, earning three starts.
SDSU Picked Fourth in Pac-12 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's 2011 Recruiting Class Ranked No. 35 Nationally by CSN
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).