SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men’s soccer team hosts Navy Sunday at 12 p.m. Admission to the match is free and it will be streamed on the Pac-12’s YouTube channel. The SDSU women’s team plays Portland State afterwards with kickoff slated for 3 p.m.
Aztec Tidbits
- The Aztecs lost their season opener, falling to Liberty 2-1 Thursday evening.
- The match featured 39 fouls and eight yellow cards.
- Jonah Kawamura scored SDSU’s lone goal, converting a penalty kick in the second half. He was the only non-defender/goalkeeper to play a full 90 minutes Thursday.
- SDSU returns to the Pac-12 in 2026, the league they played in from 2005-2023, after spending the last two years in the WAC as an affiliate member.
- The Pac-12 and The Big West jointly announced a collaborative men’s soccer partnership designed to strengthen and sustain Division I men’s soccer opportunities across the western United States. As part of this strategic partnership, California Baptist, Cal Poly, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego will compete as affiliate members in Pac-12 men’s soccer beginning with the 2026 season.
- The Aztecs were picked to finish third in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
- SDSU lost just two regular season matches in the WAC in their two years (10-2-3) and won the 2024 regular season championship.
- The Aztecs have a program record 20 newcomers in 2026 (12 transfers and eight freshmen). Nine of SDSU’s 11 starters Thursday were making their SDSU debut.
- Due to graduation, transfers and injuries, the Aztecs return just 17.8% of their minutes played from last season’s team. This is the fifth fewest in the nation based on a poll conducted amongst DI men’s soccer sports information directors.
- The Aztecs’ 2026 roster has zero players who scored a goal for SDSU last season and just two players who recorded an assist (Carson Ballagh and Dylan Presto).
- SDSU is 27-18-6 at home since the beginning of the 2021 season.
- The Aztecs have lost just 11 non-conference matches over their last 34 chances (18-11-5) and are 19-7-2 (.690) in non-conference home matches under Ryan Hopkins (7th season), which includes a 19-6-0 (.750) mark on the SDSU Sports Deck.
- SDSU has had a winning record in non-conference play in 10 of the past 12 seasons.
- Since the beginning of the 2024 season, SDSU is 15-2-2 (.842) when scoring first and 16-4-4 (.750) when tied or leading at the half.
- Last season SDSU was 5-0-1 when scoring two or more goals and 7-2-2 when scoring at least once.
- San Diego State is 8-2-2 in their last 12 road matches.
Player Notes
- Carson Ballagh, Jonah Kawamura and Oscar Emilio Trujillo Lizárraga were named to the Pac-12 Preseason Impact List. That trio will serve as team captains this year.
- Ballagh (Lake Orion, Mich.) tied for the team lead with four assists last year. He had five the previous season while at Oakland University.
- Kawamura (Honolulu, Hawai’i) came to The Mesa last year but missed the entire season with an injury. He was a three-year starter and captain at UC San Diego and led the Tritons in minutes twice.
- Trujillo Lizárraga is a San Diego native who played at West Virginia last year and at UC Riverside in 2024. He helped the Mountaineers make the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season and was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team the year prior. He was named a “Player to Watch” in the Pac-12 by Top Drawer Soccer.
- Three freshmen played in SDSU’s season opener: Gio Aguirre, Kian McCusker and Adam Okorodudu. Aguirre earned the start and had two shots on goal in 75 minutes of action.
- Goalkeeper Nic Diana (Grayslake, Ill.) finished first in the Horizon League in total saves (75) and saves per game (4.17) while at the UW Milwaukee last season.
- Mattia Boldrini (Florence, Italy) was named to the NEC Conference Top 11 Rookie of the Year Team as a freshman at Le Moyne College last season. He scored the game-winner in SDSU’s preseason friendly vs. Point Loma last Saturday.
- Cedric Ngounou (Mississauga, Ontario) was named a Canadian “Player to Watch” by Canada’s Rising Ballers. He won League 1 Defender of the Year while playing for Borough FC in the Ontario Premier League last season.
- Yahir Ocampo Navarro was named a United Soccer Coaches DII First Team All-American and the GNAC Player of the Year while at Western Oregon last year. He tallied 53 points (18 goals and 17 assists) in three years at WOU.
- Trevor Wilson (Kirkland Wash.) and Dylan Presto (Los Angeles) are the only Aztecs who have been in the program three or more years.
Opponent Notebook (Navy)
The Midshipmen went 3-8-7 last year and 0-6-3 in the Patriot League… They were picked to finish ninth in the Patriot League… They lost 7-0 at UC San Diego in their season opener Thursday… This is their first trip to California since 2006… They return seven starters from last year’s team… Head coach John Hackworth is in his first year at Navy. He spent the last four years as the director of coaching and technical director at St. Louis City SC in the MLS. He has also spent time as an assistant coach for the senior U.S. men’s national team and the head coach for USMNT U17 team, he previously had stints as head coach of the USL’s Louisville City FC, MLS’ Philadelphia Union and the University of South Florida… The Aztecs are 2-0-0 all-time against Navy, beating them 2-0 in 1988 and 1993.
Coach Hopkins’ Take
“It’s always a difficult match against service academies with the desire and fight they play with. Sunday soccer is all about resilience and executing the details in order to get a result.”