Nov. 14, 2013
SAN DIEGO - Game Week Reset
No. 2/2/2 UCLA (10-3-4, 5-1-3 Pac-12) at San Diego State (5-9-2, 2-5-2 Pac-12)
Saturday, Nov. 16 | 7 p.m. PT | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
Aztec Story Lines
- The San Diego State men's soccer team concludes regular season play on Saturday, Nov. 16, against No. 2 UCLA, beginning at 7 p.m. PT at SDSU Sports Deck. Admission is free and live stats will be available at GoAztecs.com.
- SDSU is coming off a victory over Grand Canyon, 4-0, on Montezuma Road on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Senior forward Jordan Ongaro (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season in the second half and added his first assist of the season, while redshirt freshman goalkeeper Keenan Townsend (Vancouver, Wash.) tallied two saves to earn the victory in his first-career start in the net. In addition, freshman Alec Petit (Southlake, Texas) scored his first-career goal, as San Diego State improved to 2-1-1 all-time against Grand Canyon.
- Ongaro also scored a goal in the Aztecs' loss to Wright State on Nov. 8. He leads the Aztecs with 21 points, and is the first player to record 10 goals in a season during head coach Lev Kirshner's 14-year tenure at San Diego State. Entering the week, the senior forward was tied for 33rd in the country in goals, while he leads the Pac-12 in points and goals, and is second in points per match (1.17) and goals per match (0.56). In conference matches only, Ongaro is at the top of the list in each of the four categories.
- Saturday's match against the Bruins will be San Diego State's eighth contest this season against a ranked opponent, and fifth against a team ranked in the top five in the nation. The Aztecs have been competitive against ranked foes throughout the season, as the scoring in those games is nearly equal (14-16), while SDSU has been either ahead or tied at halftime in four of those matches.
- In the Aztecs first match against UCLA this season, SDSU led at halftime, 1-0, before the Bruins rallied in the second half for two goals in the victory. Ongaro scored the goal for San Diego State, while senior midfielder Abraham Villon (Garden Grove, Calif.) recorded an assist, as the Aztecs' two leading scorers each made a big impact.
- Villon is tied for second in the Pac-12 in points (19), third in points per match (1.12), third in assists (7), third in assists per match (0.41), tied for fifth in goals (6) and sixth in goals per match (0.35). In addition, senior midfielder Blake Wise (Frisco, Texas) is tied for eighth in the conference in assists (5) and 10th in assists per match (0.28), while senior goalkeeper Blake Hylen (San Diego, Calif.) is fourth in saves (49) and second in saves per match (3.77).
- The Aztecs are 2-2-1 in their last five contests overall, 5-3-2 in matches this season following a loss, 6-3 and winners of three-straight matches when scoring first, 6-4-2 when scoring last, 4-1 when leading at halftime, 5-3 when leading in a match, 6-3-1 when out-shooting opponents, 4-4 when they have an edge in corner kicks and 2-2 when scoring two goals.
- Overall this season, San Diego State has outscored opponents 33-31, has out-shot the competition 274-244 and has a 98-86 edge in corner kicks. SDSU's five goals in its season-opener against San Diego is still the most scored by a Pac-12 team this season, while the Aztecs' 30 shot attempts against Wright State on Nov. 8 and their 14 total points recorded against USD are each single-match highs.
Opponent Notebook
No. 2/2/2 UCLA
The Bruins come to Montezuma Road riding a three-match winning streak, and haven't lost in their last six matches. UCLA's only loss in its last 10 matches came to No. 5 California on Oct. 13. The Bruins had last week off, after defeating California, 2-1, on Nov. 3, and topping Stanford, 2-1, on Nov. 1. In its last 26 matches on the road or at neutral sites, UCLA is 19-1-6, and is unbeaten in its previous 18 Pac-12 road matches dating back to 2010. Junior Leo Stolz leads the Bruins with 19 points on seven goals and five assists, while senior Victor Chavez is second with 17 points on six goals and five assists. Stolz is behind Ongaro and tied with Villon for second-most points in the conference, and leads the Pac-12 with four game-winning goals. With only one more conference match remaining for all Pac-12 teams, the Bruins are currently in third place with 18 points behind No. 3 Washington (20) and No. 5 California (19). Last season, UCLA lost to San Diego, 5-2, in the Second Round of the NCAA tournament, but advanced to the NCAA semifinals in 2011 before losing to North Carolina, 2-2, in penalty kicks. The Bruins' last national championship came in 2002, when UCLA knocked off conference rival Stanford in the title match, 1-0. Head coach Jorge Salcedo is in his 10th season at the helm for the Bruins, with an overall record of 118-45-28. During his tenure, Salcedo has guided UCLA to six Pac-12 titles and nine NCAA tournament appearances. He also played for UCLA from 1990-93.