SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team will host old Pac-12 foe Oregon State (3-2-0) Friday at 7 p.m. and then host Yale (0-2-1) Monday at 7 p.m. Admission to both matches is free. The Oregon State match will be streamed on WAC International TV while there won’t be a stream for the Yale match.
Aztec Tidbits
- San Diego State has lost their last three matches, including a pair of 2-0 losses to Santa Clara and UC Riverside last week.
- The Aztecs outshot their opponents in their last two losses 32-20, which included a 16-5 advantage in the second half of the UC Riverside match on Monday.
- It’s the first time the Aztecs have lost three matches in a row since the final three matches of the 2023 season. That is also the last time SDSU was held scoreless in back-to-back matches.
- SDSU is averaging 7.0 corner kicks per match, the most in the WAC and 11th most in the nation.
- The Aztecs are 28th in the nation in shots per match (15.67). They are outshooting their opponents 94-60 on the year.
- SDSU has lost just eight non-conference matches over their last 29 chances (16-8-5, .634) and is 18-4-2 (.771) in non-conference home matches under Ryan Hopkins (6th season), which includes an 18-3-0 (.929) mark on the SDSU Sports Deck.
- SDSU has had a winning record in non-conference play last year in 10 of their last 11 seasons.
- The Aztecs are 25-13-5 (.640) at home since the beginning of the 2021 season.
- San Diego State has shown incredible depth this season. 18 different Aztecs have already started a match. No field player averages more than 80 minutes per match, and no one has started every match outside of goalkeeper Eddy Vargas.
- The Aztecs had a conference-high three players named to the preseason All-WAC Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches. Cianole Nguepissi was named the Preseason Defender of the Year and Terence Okoeguale and Tristan Viviani made the preseason All-WAC Team.
- SDSU had two players named a “Midfielder to Watch” by the United Soccer Coaches: Okoeguale and Carson Ballagh, a transfer from Oakland University.
- According to Top Drawer Soccer, the Aztecs have the 26th best incoming class in 2025 and the sixth best on the West Coast.
- SDSU has 12 newcomers (5 freshmen and 7 transfers). Five of their seven transfers were all-conference honorees at their previous school.
- The Aztecs won the WAC regular season championship last year, the program’s first conference championship in school history. SDSU went undefeated (7-0-1) in the WAC in conference play and shut out their opponents in six of their eight WAC matches.
- SDSU’s 10 wins in 2024 were their most since 2011.
- Head coach Ryan Hopkins was named the WAC Coach of the Year last season.
- The Aztecs were picked to finish first in the WAC in the preseason coaches poll.
- Six starters return from last year’s championship team (Beto Apolinar, Israel Carrillo Pérez, Rommee Jaridly, Nguepissi, Okoeguale and Viviani).
- The Aztecs have been nationally ranked at one point in three of the last four seasons.
- Since the beginning of the 2024 season, SDSU is 11-1-2 when scoring first and 11-1-3 when tied or leading at the half.
- Defender Reid Fisher was selected by Toronto FC with the 23rd overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft in December. He became the third Aztec to be drafted in the last three years, and second in the first round, joining CJ Fodrey (13th overall) and Blake Bowen (59th) who were both selected in the 2022 SuperDraft.
Player Notes
- Rommee Jaridly (Chino Hills, Calif.) and Beto Apolinar (Los Angeles) are both three-year starters in their fifth year with the program. They each had four assists last year, which tied for third on the team. Jaridly, who is the only returner who started every match for the Aztecs last season, leads the team in minutes (77/match).
- Apolinar has missed the last two matches, marking the first time he hasn’t played in his career, breaking a streak of 58 straight appearances.
- Christian Engmann (Seattle, Wash.) has scored the game-winning goal in both of SDSU’s wins. Engmann was an All-WCC honoree while at Saint Mary’s (2020-22) but played just five matches over the previous two seasons while dealing with injuries.
- Lleyton Imparato (Tampa Bay, Fla.) is tied for the team lead with two assists, with both coming off free kicks.
- Carson Ballagh (Lake Orion, Mich.) also has two assists. He was on the United Soccer Coaches “Midfielder to Watch” List. Last season as a sophomore at Oakland University he was named to the All-Horizon First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-North Region Third-Team after dishing out a league-high five assists in conference play. Ballagh helped Oakland win the Horizon League regular championship both years he was there and was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team on both occasions.
- Terence Okoeguale (Cologne, Germany) joined Ballagh on the “Midfielder to Watch” list and was on the Preseason All-WAC Team. Last season he led the Aztecs with 17 points (6 goals & 5 assists) and was named to the All-WAC First Team and to the United Soccer Coaches Far West All-Region Second-Team. His six goals and five assists both tied for the team lead, and he also led the team in shot on goal percentage (58.3%, 14-for-24).
- Cianole Nguepissi (Birmingham, England) was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Last year he made the WAC All-Freshman Team after starting every WAC match and helping SDSU post six clean sheets in their eight conference matches.
- Tristan Viviani (Redwood City, Calif.) was also named to the Preseason All-WAC Team. He is a three-year starter who has displayed his versatility throughout his tenure on The Mesa by playing all over the pitch. Entering the year, he appeared in 46 matches with 39 starts in his career and last year played 1,495 minutes, the third most on the team, and played a full 90 minutes in all but four matches.
- Apolinar and starting goalkeeper Eddy Vargas (Yakima, Wash.) are the 2025 team captains. It’s the third year Apolinar has been selected as captain.
- Apolinar and Engmann helped lead Ballard FC to the USL 2 Championship match over the summer.
- Transfers Baptiste Boit (Oral Roberts), Stephan Moreira (SIU Edwardsville), Juan Zepeda (Temple) and Imparato (Memphis) were all-conference honorees at their previous school. Imparato (Tampa Bay, Fla.) was named the 2024 AAC Co-Midfielder of the Year and Moreira was the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
- SDSU has 12 seniors and seven of them are in their fifth, sixth (Engmann) or seventh (Vargas) year.
Opponent Notebook (Oregon State)
The Beavers are 3-2-0 on the season with both their losses coming on the road… They went 10-5-3 last year and made the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight season… They were picked to finish second in the WCC behind San Diego… Oregon State and SDSU were in the Pac-12 together for 19 years… OSU is eighth in the nation in assists, led by Carbonell Garcia’s four… Goalkeeper John Nicolson has a goals allowed average of 1.20… Jarred Brookins is in his first year as Oregon State’s head coach. He was an assistant during the 2023-24 seasons… The Aztecs are 12-25-5 all-time vs. Oregon State and 1-2-2 across their last five meetings.
Opponent Notebook (Yale)
Yale is 0-2-1 on the year and 0-1 on the road… They play at UC Irvine Friday night… They went 4-11-1 last year and 1-6-0 in Ivy League play… They have been outshot 53-17 on the year… Sabalian Roy leads the team with three points… Goalkeeper Conrad Lee has a goals allowed average of 2.00… Head coach Kylie Stannard (11th season) led the Bulldogs to five straight winning seasons prior to last year… This is the first ever meeting between the two programs.