SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team plays at Utah Valley Monday at 6:30 p.m. PT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
Aztec Tidbits
- With two matches to play, the Aztecs are in a three-way tie for second place with eight points. They trail first place California Baptist, who they play in their regular season finale, by two points.
- The Aztecs are coming off a 2-2 draw Thursday at San Jose State where the Aztecs scored twice in the final 15 minutes, including the game-tying penalty kick from Terence Okoeguale in the 89th minute.
- This was the second straight match SDSU has tied or taken the lead in the 89th minute (Viviani vs Utah Tech).
- This was the Aztecs’ first result when trailing at halftime.
- SDSU has just one loss in their last six matches (3-1-2).
- The Aztecs have lost just one match since joining the WAC as an affiliate member last season (9-1-3).
- Nine of SDSU’s 15 matches have been decided by one goal or ended in a tie.
- The Aztecs have three wins and a draw when their opponent has more shots on goal than them.
- San Diego State is 7-2-2 in their last 11 road matches.
- Since the beginning of the 2024 season, SDSU is 14-1-2 when scoring first and 15-2-4 when tied or leading at the half.
- The Aztecs are 5-0-1 when scoring two or more goals and 6-1-2 when scoring at least once.
- SDSU is 27-16-6 (.612) at home since the beginning of the 2021 season.
- This is just the second time in the last 12 years that SDSU didn’t have a winning record in non-conference play.
- San Diego State has shown incredible depth this season. 21 different Aztecs have started a match. No field player averages more than 80 minutes per match, and no one has started more than 13 of SDSU’s 15 matches.
- The Aztecs’ 18 goals have come from eight different players. Only two Aztecs have more than two goals.
- SDSU 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.
- SDSU has lost just 10 non-conference matches over their last 33 chances (18-10-5) and is 19-6-2 (.714) in non-conference home matches under Ryan Hopkins (6th season), which includes a 19-5-0 (.791) mark on the SDSU Sports Deck.
- SDSU has been nationally ranked at one point in three of the last four seasons.
- 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
- Defender Christian Engmann (Seattle, Wash.) leads the team with points and is tied for the team lead with four goals.
- Juan Zepeda (Guadalajara, Mexico) is tied for the team lead in goals (4), shots (34), shots on goal (14) and shot on goal percentage (.412, minimum 15 shots).
- Terence Okoeguale (Cologne, Germany) scored the game tying goal in the 89th minute at San Jose State Thursday. He was named a “Midfielder to Watch” by the United Soccer Coaches 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.
- Carson Ballagh (Lake Orion, Mich.) joined Okoeguale on the “Midfielder to Watch” List. He is tied for the team lead with four assists. 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.
- Lleyton Imparato (Tampa Bay, Fla.) is tied with Ballagh for the team lead with four assists, all of which have come off set pieces. Imparato was the AAC Co-Midfielder of the Year last season at Memphis.
- Eddy Vargas (Yakima, Wash.) won his first WAC Goalkeeper of the Week after shutting out Cal State Fullerton Sept. 27 and collecting 11 saves. It was his fourth career shutout and his previous single match high was five saves.
- 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 scored the game-winner in the 89th minute vs. Utah Tech last Saturday.
- Rommee Jaridly (Chino Hills, Calif.) and Beto Apolinar (Los Angeles) are both four-year starters in their fifth year with the program.
- Apolinar and goalkeeper Vargas 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 (Utah Valley)
The Wolverines are 8-2-2 on the year, but 2-2-1 in WAC play which puts them in a tie for fifth… They are 6-1-1 at home… They are coming off a 3-3 draw at UNLV where they led 3-0 in the 66th minute… They lead the WAC in goal differential (+16), points per game (7.25), goals per game (2.42) and a handful of other offensive categories… Keegan Oyler’s eight assists are tied for the sixth most in the nation… Isaac Emojong and Nil Grau are tied for the team lead with 12 points… Goalkeeper Kolby Sessions is top 15 in the nation in goals allowed average (0.556) and save percentage (82.8%)… Head coach Kyle Beckerman (5th season) played in the MLS and was on the U.S. Men’s National Team… The Aztecs are 0-1-0 all-time vs. Utah Valley, losing to them in 2017.