Up Next
San Diego State (0-0-0) at Santa Clara (0-0-0)
Friday, Aug. 24 | 7:30 p.m. PT | Stevens Stadium - Buck Shaw Field | Santa Clara, Calif.
Media Coverage: Live Stream (TheW.tv) & Live Stats
San Diego State (0-0-0) at San Francisco (0-0-0)
Sunday, Aug. 26 | 3:00 p.m. PT | Negoesco Stadium | San Francisco, Calif.
Media Coverage: Live Stream (TheW.tv) & Live Stats
Last Time Out
The Aztecs wrapped up their preseason with a 1-0 shutout at Point Loma Nazarene last Saturday evening. Adam Vargas, a Cal State Dominguez Hills transfer, had a beautiful assist to Robby Jacobs, a Clemson transfer, in the 54th minute for the game-winning goal. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Cameron Hogg blanked the Sea Lions with a stellar performance in between the pipes.
Aztec Storylines
- Pablo Pelaez was named to the All-Pac-12 Preseason Team as voted on by the league's head coaches. Pelaez, a redshirt junior from San Diego, was limited to 11 matches last season, but made an immediate impact in his freshman year. Following the 2016 season, Pelaez was named to the NSCAA All-Far West Region First Team and to the College Soccer News All-Freshman Second Team.
- The Aztecs, who are coming off a 6-13-0 season, lost their top three goal scorers (Meefout, Cutler & Sorhaitz) from a season ago along with standout defender Kyle Adams and Adam Allmaras, a four year starter at goalkeeper. However, SDSU has numerous transfers who joined the Aztecs for prominent programs across the nation who should make an immediate impact. These key transfers include Keegan Kelly (Maryland), Miles Stray (Maryland), Damian German (Grand Canyon), Robby Jacobs (Clemson), Garrett Amador (LMU) and Hampus Bergdahl (Syracuse). Additionally, the Aztecs added five true freshmen and have four players who redshirted in 2017 as freshmen. Key returners from 2017 include Pablo Pelaez, Emil Kjellker, Ilai Shvika, Tevenn Roux, Spencer Madden and Mac Clarke.
- Redshirt senior goalkeeper Cameron Hogg got the start in goal in last Saturday's friendly at Point Loma Nazarene. The New Zealand native shutout the Sea Lions and collected four saves. Hogg started his collegiate career at the University of Buffalo, where he spent two seasons and posted a 4-6-2 record. He has spent the past two years backing up four-year starter Adam Allmaras.
- The Aztecs will once again play a very challenging schedule this season with nine matches against teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, including three-time defending national champ and preseason No. 1 Stanford. On Sunday, the Aztecs play at San Francisco, who is receiving votes. All of the Aztecs road Pac-12 matches will be shown on the Pac-12 Networks and seven home matches will be streamed on GoAztecs.com.
Opponent Notebook
Santa Clara:
The Broncos are coming a rough 2017 season where they went 3-13-1 and 3-3-1 (fifth place) in the WCC. In 2018 they return 17 players, including three 2017 WCC All-Freshman honorees, and were picked to finish sixth in the WCC.
They played two preseason friendlies, going 1-0-1. They tied Sacramento State 2-2 on August 15th and then knocked off San José State 2-1 last Sunday. Friday's match will be the season opener for the Broncos.
The Broncos are coached by Cameron Rast, who is in his 17th season as head coach at Santa Clara. He has led the Broncos to seven NCAA tournaments and five WCC Championships. He was an All-American on Santa Clara's 1989 national championship team.
The Aztecs are 7-12-2 all-time against the Broncos and beat them 3-0 last year.
San Francisco:
The Dons are coming off a successful 2017 campaign where they went 10-9-0 and won the WCC with a 6-1-0 record. They advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they beat Cal before falling to No. 4 Louisville 3-2.
USF is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll and were picked to finish fourth in the WCC preseason coaches poll. Seniors Sean Bowman and Santiago Digiuseppe were named to the preseason All-WCC Team.
Head Coach Eddie Soto is in his fifth season at USF. He is 34-35-3 over his first four years and was the 2017 WCC Coach of the Year.
The Aztecs are 4-11-1 all-time against the Dons and lost at the Sports Deck last season 2-1.