SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team begins Pac-12 play at Oregon State Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on the Pac-12 YouTube channel.
Aztec Tidbits
- This is SDSU’s fourth time playing on the road in their last five matches.
- The Aztecs played in the Pac-12 with Oregon State from 2005-2023.
- SDSU is second in the Pac-12 and 28th in the nation with a shot accuracy of 48.7%.
- The Aztecs are tied with Oregon State for the most goals in the Pac-12 with 17. The Aztecs are also second in the conference in assists (19) and points (53).
- SDSU leads the conference in saves per match (3.90).
- Since the beginning of the 2024 season, SDSU is 17-3-5 (.780) when scoring first and 18-6-7 (.694) when tied or leading at the half.
- Nine different Aztecs have scored and four players have at least two goals.
- SDSU has had a winning record in non-conference play in 10 of the past 12 seasons.
- The Aztecs have a program record 20 newcomers in 2026 (12 transfers and eight freshmen).
- 22 different Aztecs have started this year and 17 of them were making their first ever start for SDSU.
- 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.
- SDSU is 21-8-5 (.691) in non-conference home matches under Ryan Hopkins (7th season), which includes a 21-7-2 (.733) mark on the SDSU Sports Deck.
- SDSU’s 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 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
- Nik Orth (Cologne, Germany) is tied for the Pac-12 lead in goals (5) and is first in points (12).
- Goalkeeper Nic Diana (Grayslake, Ill.) leads the Pac-12 in saves.
- Jaxson Hutcheon (Laguna Beach, Calif.) is second on the team lead with nine shots on goal and leads the team with a 56.3% shot on goal percentage.
- Freshman Dylan Mair (Dana Point, Calif.) made his first career start last Saturday. In the previous match, he scored his first career goal, finishing an assist from his older brother Max.
- Freshmen Kian McCusker (Birmingham, England) and Gio Aguirre (San Marcos, Calif.) each have three assists on the year, tied for the most on the team.
- Aguirre scored both of SDSU’s goals vs. Navy Aug. 23 to become the first Aztec freshman to score two goals in a match since 2022 (CJ Fodrey).
- Seven Aztec field players average at least 70 minutes per match: Luke Fischer (87), Avery Huggins (78), Jonah Kawamura (76), Mattia Boldrini (74) Carson Ballagh (73), Dylan Presto (70) and Nik Orth (70)
- Ballagh, Kawamura and Oscar Emilio Trujillo Lizárraga were named to the Pac-12 Preseason Impact List. That trio are the 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.
- 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 (Oregon State)
The Beavers are 4-1-3… They are No. 20 in the latest RPI rankings, tops in the Pac-12… They have played just two matches at home and won both of them… They are top 30 in the nation in assists, goals and points… Wyatt Borso leads the team in points (10) and goals (5)… Goalkeeper John Nicolson has a 1.50 goals allowed average… Head coach Jarred Brookins is in his second season and led the Beavers to a 10-5-2 record last year while making the NCAA Tournament… The Aztecs are 12-26-5 all-time vs. OSU.
Coach Hopkins’ Take
“We are excited for the start of conference play against one of our old rivals in Oregon State. We have to take the lessons we learned from non-conference play and apply them for all 90 minutes.”