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San Diego State (0-3-1, 0-3-1) at No. 4 Oregon State (6-1-0, 3-1-0)
Saturday, March 20 | 12:30 p.m. PT | Paul Lorenz Field | Corvallis, Ore.
Media Coverage: Live Stream | Live Stats
Aztec Storylines
• All four of the Aztecs' matches have gone to extra time or been decided by one goal in the final 10 minutes.
• Saturday's match at Oregon State will be their third time playing a team ranked in the top eight in the nation in their last four contests.
• SDSU has started eight or nine underclassmen in all four of their matches.
• Blake Bowen leads SDSU with three goals and six points. His 0.75 goals per game is third in the conference and he is fifth with 1.5 points per game.
• Four Aztecs have played every minute so far, all of which are underclassmen (Hankins, Kadono, Katsaros and Ochoa).
• Ryan Hopkins is in his first year as the Aztecs' head coach. He comes to SDSU from Virginia (2018-19) whereas an assistant he helped lead the Cavaliers to the 2019 NCAA Championship match. Hopkins has also made stops as an assistant at Denver (2013-17), Wisconsin (2012), Cal Poly (2009-11) and Concordia (2004-08), his alma mater.
• Hopkins was listed as one of the Top 12 Assistant Coaches by College Soccer News in three of the last four seasons and was named the 2015 NSCAA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
• The Aztecs have 13 newcomers (all freshmen), and their recruiting class has been ranked in the top 10 nationally by Top Drawer Soccer.
• Andre Ochoa was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Freshman Best XI preseason team. Ochoa was one of just four freshmen midfielders chosen and the only Pac-12 freshman named.
• The Aztecs posted a 3.26 team GPA in the 2020 fall semester, best among SDSU's men's programs.
Notes from the California Match (L 2-3, March 13)
• The Aztecs fell to California 3-2 at home last Saturday. SDSU drew a red card in the 73rd minute when the match was tied at 2-2 and then the Golden Bears scored the game-winner in the 81st minute.
• This was the third straight match where SDSU lost by one goal in the final 10 minutes or extra time.
• The Aztecs outshot Cal 13-8 and 9-2 in the first half.
• Cal had just three shots on goal and all three found the back of the net.
• Freshman Iñigo Villaldea had three points, scoring SDSU's first goal on a free kick from about 18 yards out and getting the assist on the Aztecs' second goal by sending in a corner kick that found defender Kyle Colonna's head.
• For the first time this season, the Aztecs tinkered with their starting lineup, inserting Victor Rangel, Tristan Weber and Austin Wehner, giving SDSU nine underclassmen starters.
Opponent Notebook (No. 4 Oregon State)
Oregon State is 6-1-0 on the year and 3-1-0 in the Pac-12… They are No. 4 in the latest United Soccer Coaches rankings... Their lone loss came last Saturday at Stanford, a 3-2 defeat where the Beavers scored the first two goals and then gave up three unanswered… The Beavers are outscoring their opponents 19-5 and have a 113-57 advantage in shots… Gloire Amanda has 23 points and leads the nation in goals (9) and points per game (3.29)… Mouhameth Thiam leads the conference with six assists… Goalkeeper Adrian Fernandez has a goals allowed average of 0.72 and a save percentage of .706… Oregon State went 8-6-2 in 2019 and 5-3-2 in conference… Head coach Oregon State Terry Boss (3rd season) is 25-13-5 at Oregon State… SDSU head coach Ryan Hopkins replaced him as the lead assistant at Virginia when he took the OSU job… The Aztecs are 11-19-3 all-time against Oregon State… The Beavers won both meetings in 2019, winning 2-1 in Corvallis and 1-0 in extra time in San Diego.
Aztecs at No. 4 Oregon State Saturday
