Oct. 9, 2015
Match Week Preview
San Diego State (5-3-2) at UCLA (5-5-0)
Monday, October 12 | 7 p.m. PT | Drake Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Storylines
- San Diego State ventures up the freeway to take on UCLA for Monday night futbol on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network. Live stats and audio are available through UCLABruins.com.
- In its Pac-12 opener, San Diego State held then-No. 15 Washington scoreless for nearly 82 minutes, but fell in the match's dying minutes, 1-0, on a perfectly placed header on Friday night. The Aztecs thwarted the Huskies' offense in the first half, holding Washington to just one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes. In the weekend finale on Sunday, despite a strong first half by San Diego State, the Aztecs fell to Oregon State, 1-0, on a marker in the 47th minute.
- The last time San Diego State opened Pac-12 play by allowing two goals was in 2011, when the Aztecs opened the conference season with 1-0 and 2-1 wins over Stanford and California.
- San Diego State's defense has been its strongest suit this season. The Aztecs rank 29th in the nation with a 0.76 goals against average. The team's starter in net, Adam Allmaras sits 38th nationally (0.829).
- For just the sixth time in the program's 48-year history, San Diego State has allowed eight-or-fewer goals in its first 10 matches of the season (1979 - 7; 1982 - 4; 1987 - 8; 1988 - 6; 2005 - 5). The Aztecs have allowed more than one goal in only one match.
- San Diego State has one of the most distributed offenses in the conference. Nine different Aztecs have scored goals, tied with California for the most in the Pac-12.
- Redshirt senior Rene Reyes has been the Aztecs' most reliable scoring threat this season. His four tallies in a season's first three matches are the most for an Aztec since 1999 and he currently ranks tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with four goals. Personally, his four goals are a career high, which he surpassed three matches into the season, and his two-goal outing against San Diego Christian was the first of his career.
- San Diego State head coach Lev Kirshner announced the hire of two assistant coaches, both of whom possess a diverse set of experiences at the youth, collegiate, professional and international levels. Jeffrey "Ziggy" Korytoski and Tony Vigil join Kirshner's staff for his 16th season at the helm of the Aztecs' program in 2015. Korytoski will be in charge of recruiting, while Vigil will handle all scouting.
- As a member of Guam's Men's National Team, redshirt-junior Travis Nicklaw is training with Matao for 2018 World Cup Qualifying action in Qatar this week, preparing for Guam's qualifying match against Turkmenistan on Oct. 13 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The San Diego native has helped Matao to a 0-1-1 record against Iran and Oman and a first-place standing in Group D.
- Also competing internationally, redshirt-freshman Nedin Tucakovic participated in a camp for the Bosnia-Herzegovina U-21 Men's National Team over the summer, which is preparing for the 2017 UEFA Under-21 Championship. Additionally, former Aztec Joe Corona was named to Jurgen Klinsmann's 23-man roster for a pair of friendlies against Peru and Brazil ahead of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup play-off match.
- Kirshner matches California head coach Kevin Grimes as the longest tenured head coach in Pac-12 men's soccer. Under his tutelage, San Diego State maintains a 74-62-18 record out of conference play.
Opponent Notebook
UCLA
After suffering a 1-0 shutout to Oregon State, the Bruins pulled off an upset of then-No. 16 Washington on Sunday, tying the match at 2-2 on an 80th-minute penalty kick and netting the golden goal at 106:42 to top the Huskies, 3-2. Freshman Jose Hernandez has scored four of UCLA's last five goals, but Seyi Adekoya leads the club with six goals for 12 points. Getting help from up and down its lineup has helped UCLA get back on track after a slow start to its 2015 campaign that saw the team open the season with a 2-4-0 mark. Between the pipes, the Bruins have used three different keepers this season after losing last year's starter, San Diego native and current Orlando City (MLS) player Earl Edwards, Jr., to graduation. Redshirt-freshman Pepe Barroso Silva has logged full-time in the most recent three matches. Former UCLA All-American Jorge Salcedo is in his 12th season at the helm of UCLA's program, leading the Bruins to a 144-53-38 mark in that time.