SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team plays at Cal Poly in their first road match of the season Sunday night at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+. This is the first of two matches with the Mustangs, who are in the Pac-12 with the Aztecs, although Sunday’s match will not count towards conference standings.
Aztec Tidbits
- The Aztecs beat Life Pacific 7-1 Thursday night with six of their goals coming in the second half.
- SDSU outshot the Warriors 32-9 and held a 20-3 advantage in shots on goal.
- Over their last two matches, the Aztecs are outshooting their opponents 48-15.
- SDSU has had 29 shots on goal in their last two matches.
- The Aztecs are top 20 in the nation in 10 offensive statistical categories, including second in shots on goal per game (11.33) and fifth in goals and assists (10).
- San Diego State is 8-2-2 in their last 12 road matches.
- The Aztecs have a program record 20 newcomers in 2026 (12 transfers and eight freshmen).
- Through three matches, 14 different Aztecs have started and 11 of them were making their first ever start for SDSU.
- SDSU announced the hiring of Carlos Aguilar, who served as the Aztecs’ assistant from 2020-24 before spending last season at LMU.
- 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 28-18-7 at home since the beginning of the 2021 season.
- The Aztecs have lost just 11 non-conference matches over their last 36 chances (19-11-6) and are 20-7-3 (.717) in non-conference home matches under Ryan Hopkins (7th season), which includes a 20-6-1 (.790) 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 16-2-3 (.833) when scoring first and 17-4-5 (.750) when tied or leading at the half.
- 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.
Player Notes
- Lucas Caffo and Nik Orth each scored twice Thursday while Yahir Ocampo-Navarro, Kian McCusker and Gio Aguirre each had two assists.
- They were the first career goals for Caffo (San Diego, Calif.) and Orth (Cologne, Germany).
- McCusker (Birmingham, England) has three assists on the year, which is tied for the third most in the nation.
- Greyson Moreno (San Clemente, Calif.), Jaxson Hutcheon (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Adam Okorodudu (London, England) also scored their first goals as an Aztec.
- Freshman forward Gio Aguirre (San Marcos, Calif.) scored both of SDSU’s goals vs. Navy Sunday to become the first Aztec freshman to score two goals in a match since 2022 (CJ Fodrey).
- Aguirre’s six points are tied for the 12th most in the nation.
- Aguirre has put six of his eight shots on frame. He is one of eight players in the nation who have a shot on goal percentage of at least 75% while attempting at least eight shots.
- 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.
- 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 (Cal Poly)
The Mustangs are 1-0-2 on the year… They tied Denver and UC Davis 2-2 and beat San Jose State 3-0 Thursday night… They have scored at least two goals in all three of their matches… They were picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 preseason coaches poll… Their six goals have all come from different players… Goalkeeper Mathew Guerra had a goals allowed average of 1.33… Head coach Oige Kennedy has led the Mustangs to back-to-back Big West regular season championships… The Aztecs are 7-6-4 all-time against Cal Poly… The Mustangs won at SDSU 2-0 last year.
Coach Hopkins’ Take
“Sunday will be the first of two matches against Cal Poly this season. They are a highly competitive program and I expect them to present a massive challenge for us in our first road trip of the season in a difficult venue.”