Oct. 12, 2011
LONG BEACH, Calif. -
Top Drawer Soccer Pac-12 Conference Top-20 List
Five San Diego State men's soccer players have been named to the Top Drawer Soccer Pac-12 Conference Top-20 list, the website recently announced. The five picks are tied with UCLA for the most in the league.
Senior Daniel Steres (Calabasas, Calif.) (No. 4), junior Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS) (No. 6) and sophomore Miles Byass (Highland, Calif.) (No. 7) all cracked the top 10, while redshirt sophomores Jordan Ongaro (Edmonton, Alberta) and Blake Hylen (San Diego/Torrey Pines HS) are 13th and 20th, respectively.
Steres, who is the first two-time team captain since Raul Bautista (2005-06), has twice been an all-Pac-12 honoree, including a second-team selection last year as a junior. He has started 60 times over his 64 appearances, registering 32 points on 12 goals and eight assists. This season, Steres is third on the team with 11 points on four goals and three assists, despite playing in the back, while his 1,109 minutes lead the squad.
Altamirano is on the Pac-12 list after coming in at No. 67 on the website's preseason national top-100 list on Aug. 22. A two-time all-conference player, including a second-team pick in 2010, Altamirano has 23 career points on five goals and 13 assists. Last year, the midfielder had nine assists, which led the Aztecs and ranked third in the league (second in assists per game (0.47)). This season, Altamirano is third on the team with eight points on three goals and two assists.
Byass, a 2010 honorable mention all-Pac-12 selection, has picked up where he left off last year after scoring five goals over the final five games. This year, the forward leads SDSU with 13 points on four goals and five assists (also a team high). Dating back to last season, Byass has 23 points over his last 17 matches on nine goals and five assists. Byass ranks third in the Pac-12 in shots per game (3.75), is tied for third in assists per game (0.42) and is fourth in points per game (1.08).
Ongaro, who gained valuable international experience by playing with the Canada U-20 National Team at the 2011 CONCACAF Championships in the spring, leads the team with five goals and is second with 12 points. Additionally, he has already matched his two assists that he had last year as a redshirt freshman. A forward, Ongaro is ranked third in the league in goals per game (0.42) and fifth in points per game (1.00). Eleven of his 22 shots have been on net.
Hylen, starting for the first time after playing five minutes off the bench last year as a redshirt freshman, continues to shine in net for San Diego State, going 7-2-2 with a 0.97 goals against average over 1,020 minutes. He has 40 saves over the 11 games, a .784 save percentage and three shutouts. Hylen, who had to replace four-year starter Brad Byrns, is second in the Pac-12 in GAA, tied for second in shutouts and fourth in saves per game (3.64).
In a battle between the top-two teams in the Pac-12, the 22nd-ranked Aztecs travel to Los Angeles Sunday to meet No. 9 UCLA at 5 p.m. PT. SDSU enters Sunday's contest with an 8-2-2 record, including a 3-1 mark in the Pac-12, while the Bruins are 9-3-1 and 4-0. Both teams are ranked in all five national polls with a high of No. 22 by San Diego State (Soccer America) and No. 9 by UCLA (NSCAA/Continental Tire; Soccer Times).