Nov. 12, 2015
Storylines
- San Diego State closes out the regular season on Sat., Nov. 14 with a Pac-12 match against No. 16 UCLA at 7 p.m. The Aztecs' three seniors, Casey Phillips, Mark Revell and Rene Reyes will be honored prior to the match. Admission to all regular season soccer matches at SDSU Sports Deck is free.
- The Aztecs' three seniors have all been major contributors while donning the Scarlet and Black. One of the team's tri-captains, Phillips has played in 48 contests since joining San Diego State in 2013. A two-year Aztec, Revell has 31 matches of experience for San Diego State. This season, Reyes, who transferred from New Mexico following the 2013 season, leads the Aztecs with 15 points, and has scored eight goals since stepping foot on the Mesa.
- Last weekend, San Diego State posted a 0-1-1 mark in home contests against Washington and Oregon State. The Aztecs suffered an agonizing result against the Huskies, who notched the match-tying goal with two seconds remaining in regulation to yield the final 1-1 score. Against the Beavers, Ozzie Ramos' second goal of the season was the Aztecs' lone marker.
- Rene Reyes has led a balanced San Diego State attack in his final year of eligibility. The Oslo, Norway native is first on the team with six goals and three assists for 15 points, ranked tied for seventh in the Pac-12. He scored four goals in the season's first three matches, accomplishing the feat for the first time since 1999, and his two-goal outing against San Diego Christian was the first of his career.
- Since transferring from Maryland this summer, sophomore Jeroen Meefout has been an invaluable offensive threat for the Aztecs. Meefout, a Houten, Netherlands native, ranks second on the team with 11 points (four goals, three assists), garnering more than half of his points since the start of Pac-12 play.
- Adam Allmaras has had a career year for San Diego State between the pipes. With one match to go, the San Diego native has surpassed his career high with five clean sheets this season, ranking third in the Pac-12.
- San Diego State has one of the most distributed offenses in the conference. Twelve different Aztecs have scored goals, the most among Pac-12 teams.
- The Aztecs used their bye week from Pac-12 play to venture to Wright State for a Halloween contest against the Raiders and departed with a 3-0 victory. The home loss was Wright State's worst loss in more than three years. Aleks Berkolds headed in SDSU's eventual match-winner on its first shot on the match 26 minutes in. Rene Reyes and Casey Macias added second half markers to seal the match. Adam Allmaras stopped 10 shots, one shy of his career high, for the shutout.
- San Diego State's double overtime heartbreaker at California on Oct. 23 was chock-full of exciting moments, but none were more thrilling for Aztec fans than Travis Nicklaw's match-tying goal in the 85th minute. The redshirt junior blasted a missile from 35 yards out, sending the ball curling into the upper right corner of the net. The rocket was first on the Pac-12 Network's #12Best Moments of the Week for Oct. 19-25.
- On Oct. 16 and 18, San Diego State out-shot No. 3 Stanford - the first time the Aztecs out-shot both Stanford and an opponent ranked in the top three since 2013 - and California, continuing a visible trait of its attack this season. The team has out-shot 10 of its 16 opponents, producing a 6-2-2 mark when tallying more chances than its opponent.
- As a member of Guam's Men's National Team, redshirt-junior Travis Nicklaw has helped Matao to a 2-2-1 in round two of World Cup Qualifying with three matches remaining. Despite missing five matches due to his international commitments, Nicklaw is fourth on the Aztecs with two goals and six points.
- The Aztecs began their conference slate with a pair of 1-0 losses to No. 15 Washington and Oregon State. 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.
- For just the sixth time in the program's 48-year history, San Diego State allowed eight-or-fewer goals in its first 10 matches of the season (1979 - 7; 1982 - 4; 1987 - 8; 1988 - 6; 2005 - 5).
- San Diego State head coach Lev 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 75-62-18 record out of conference play.
Opponent Notebook
UCLA
After a slow start to its campaign, UCLA has risen through the rankings to No. 16 after beginning the Pac-12 season unranked. The Bruins are currently riding a three-match win streak, scoring 10 combined goals in victories against Akron, Oregon State and Washington. UCLA's offensive firepower has come into play, as the team tops the league in Pac-12 contests with 2.50 goals per game. On that front, the Bruins have been led by Jose Hernandez and Seyi Adekoya, averaging 1.44 and 1.39 goals per game respectively. Jackson Yueill ranks third on the team with 19 points this year, getting a trio of tallies last weekend to garner Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. Juan Cervantes has seen the majority of action between the Bruins' pipes, allowing two goals in his last four appearances. 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.