Oct. 17, 2012
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Soccer Weekly Notes
Game Week Reset
San Diego State (5-6-2) at Clemson (5-7-3)
Oct. 19 | 6 p.m. ET | Riggs Field | Clemson, S.C.
After Clemson...
San Diego State (5-6-2; 0-4-1) at No. 17 Washington (9-3-2; 4-0-1)
Oct. 26 | 7:30 p.m. PT | Husky Soccer Stadium | Seattle, Wash.
Aztec Story Lines
- San Diego State flies cross country this week to face Clemson on Friday. First tap is set for 6 p.m. ET at historic Riggs Field.
- Live video and live stats for the Aztecs' final non-conference game of the regular season will be available via ClemsonTigers.com. Both services are free of charge.
- The match-up between SDSU and Clemson is a rematch of the 1987 NCAA title game. It has been 25 years since the schools collided for the national championship, one in which the Tigers emerged victorious, 2-0.
- Earlier this season, the Aztecs recognized the 1987 team at halftime of the Houston Baptist-San Diego State game. Members of that team, including former U.S. National Team player Eric Wynalda, returned to Montezuma Mesa for a reunion.
- SDSU snapped a five-game winless streak (0-4-1), which coincided with the start of Pac-12 Conference play, on Monday when it routed Point Loma Nazarene, 4-0, at SDSU Sports Deck.
- In the victory over the Sea Lions, four different Aztecs scored, including Kody Duff, Casey Meuser, Tyler Smith and Anthony Gooch. The effort marked the second straight game in which SDSU scored at least three goals. Prior to the 4-3 loss to No. 5/4/5 UCLA, San Diego State scored just one goal in its previous four outings.
- Last Friday vs. the Bruins, San Diego State gave everything UCLA could handle. The Aztecs outshot the visitors, 27-11, and finished with a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks. The Bruins, however, scored on their first two shots, one of which occurred at the six-minute mark and the other in the 40th minute. SDSU tied the game at 3-3 in the 82nd minute, but allowed a goal two minutes later as the Bruins escaped with the victory.
- Even with San Diego State's offensive woes during the first four games of the conference campaign, the Aztecs still sit atop the league in shots (232), points (89), goals (29), goals per game (2.23), assists (31) and assists per game (2.38).
- Friday's meeting at Clemson is the second all-time meeting between the schools. The first meeting in 1987 also took place at Clemson.
- Back during both teams' magical run to the 1987 NCAA title game, Clemson took out SDSU head coach Lev Kirshner's Rutgers team in the Elite 8. The Tigers earned a 3-2 win over Kirshner and the Scarlet Knights in Piscataway, N.J. That season, Kirshner was a freshman and eventually earned four letters.
- The trip to Clemson will mark San Diego State's second trip to the Eastern Time Zone this season. Earlier this year, the Aztecs traveled to Bloomington, Ind., to participate in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic where they fell to No. rv/15/20 Notre Dame, 3-2, and tied No. 10/8/8 Indiana, 0-0, in double overtime.
- The last time San Diego State played on the Eastern seaboard was in 2005. The Aztecs beat Rutgers, 1-0, in the season opener before tying No. 5 St. John's, 0-0.
- After the trip to Clemson, SDSU will start the second half of Pac-12 action at Washington. The Huskies currently lead the league and enter this week's game with a No. 17 ranking. In the schools' last meeting, San Diego State took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute, but UW answered with the equalizer in the 27th. The contest went the distance and both sides settled with a draw.
Opponent Notebook
Clemson
The Tigers welcome San Diego State after beating Gardner-Webb, 5-0, on Tuesday night to improve to 5-7-3... Clemson, however, has played well of late, going 4-2-1 over its last seven outings... In the Tigers' win over Gardner-Webb, two Clemson student-athletes were responsible for all of the scoring... Austin Savage recorded a hat trick in the first 30 minutes, 58 seconds of the game, and Ara Amirkhanian added two goals in the second half in a span of 10 minutes, 26 seconds... For the game, Clemson enjoyed a 19-2 advantage in shots.