Lev Kirshner Position: Head Coach Year at SDSU: Eighth year

Entering his eighth season at the helm of the SDSU men's soccer program, Lev Kirshner has brought the Aztecs back into the national spotlight.

Kirshner led the 2006 Aztecs to their second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament; a feat SDSU hadn't done since the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Although the Aztecs would fall to eventual NCAA champion UC Santa Barbara, last year has to be deemed a success.

Consider the following:
* In just its second year of play in the highly competitive Pac-10 Conference, Kirshner and San Diego State went on to finish second with a 5-2-3 record. Included in the five conference victories was a sweep over conference champion California.

* SDSU went 2-0 in the inaugural The Soccer Post/Aztec Classic and finished runner-up with a 1-0-1 record at the USD/SDSU Soccer Tournament.

* The Aztecs allowed just nine goals in league play, tied with Stanford for the lowest in the conference, and had six shutouts.

* San Diego State defeated three nationally ranked teams in 2006, including two top-10 opponents.

* SDSU went 8-1-1 at SDSU Sports Deck. The eight home wins are the most since 1992, when the Aztecs also won eight times.

* The Aztecs were ranked as high as No. 21 by College Soccer News, No. 22 by NSCAA and No. 25 by Soccer America.

* Senior goalkeeper Tally Hall was a M.A.C. Hermann Award semifinalist, an All-American for the second consecutive year, an Scholar All-American, an all-Far West Region performer and a first-team all-Pac-10 selection.

* Hall joined six others on the all-conference team, SDSU's highest total in school history, including Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Nick Cardenas.

In 2005, Kirshner led SDSU to a 9-4-6 record, its best mark since 1991, and a trip to its first NCAA tournament since 1989, before falling at UC Santa Barbara, 2-0, in the first round.

Kirshner's disciplined approach helped the Aztecs receive numerous honors in 2005. SDSU was nationally ranked by all four polls during the season and reached as high as No. 14 by Soccer America and College Soccer News. The Aztecs ranked first nationally with a 87.9 shots-on-goal save percentage and second in the country with a 0.54 goals against average. SDSU did not allow a goal in the first half the entire season.

Under Kirshner's tutelage, Hall became the first Aztec to receive All-American honors since National Soccer Hall of Fame member Marcelo Balboa did so in 1989.

In addition to Hall, four others were named to the all-Pacific 10 Conference team, including sophomore midfielder Kraig Chiles.

Kirshner didn't rest on his laurels in the offseason. Instead, he brought in the 17th-best recruting class in the country, according to College Soccer News.

No stranger to winning, Kirshner has a mold and a style that his players have bought into; one that has shown proven results when building programs.

Before coming to SDSU, Kirshner coached the women of Cañada College (Redwood City, Calif.) from 1992-95. During that time, he took a team that had never won a conference game prior to his arrival and led it to a 16-1-3 record and a trip to the California state quarterfinals his third year. For his efforts, he was named the Coast Conference coach of the year. He also served as the men's assistant coach at Cañada and helped with their run to the state quarterfinals in 1992 and 1994.

From there, he moved to a head coaching position at Ohlone College (Fremont, Calif.) in the fall of 1995. At Ohlone, he helped take a team from a second-to-last place league finish the previous season to a No. 15 state ranking.

Prior to his arrival at SDSU, Kirshner also served as the men's assistant coach at his alma mater, Rutgers. Kirshner helped the Scarlet Knights to the second round at the 1996 NCAA tournament, and a No. 13 national ranking and a 14-7-4 record.

Before taking over the Aztecs' head spot five years ago, Kirshner spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the SDSU men's program under long-time head coach Chuck Clegg, the school's all-time winningest coach.

In his first season at SDSU's helm, Kirshner's team improved its win total from the previous year, despite playing top-ranked UCLA and traditional powers Washington, Portland and San Diego.

Kirshner believes that talented players and top-notch competition go hand-in-hand, so he wants his SDSU teams to be characterized by their success against quality opponents.

"When you start stepping up your competition, you need better players," Kirshner said. "I think that the two have complemented each other well and put us in position to not only play those teams, but actually beat them."

As a player at Rutgers, Kirshner was part of the 1987 NCAA quarterfinal team, a 1989 NCAA semifinal squad that lost to eventual co-champion Virginia and a runner-up finisher to UCLA in the 1990 championship match.

He received his undergraduate degree in communication while graduating with honors in 1991, and is listed as one of the soccer program's top 25 alums.

"Lev was an outstanding player for us and a very integral part of a team that went to two Final Fours in his career," Rutgers head coach Bob Reasso said. "In my 25 years at Rutgers, Lev was one of the finest players ever to come through our program."

Following his collegiate career, Kirshner represented the United States in 1993, winning a bronze medal for the U.S. national Maccabiah team. In 1997, he returned to Israel as captain of the U.S. team, and led the only squad to defeat eventual gold-medalist Brazil.

Kirshner was selected as one of 250 domestic and international athletes to be assessed in the inaugural Major League Soccer combine in 1995. Kirshner also had a stint in the USISL starting for the Reno Rattlers. During that year, he trained with and played in several intrasquad reserve games for the MLS San Jose Clash.

Kirshner was named coach of the U.S. Maccabiah Pan-American U-20 soccer team in December 2003, where he won a bronze medal in Santiago, Chile. In the summer of 2005, Kirshner led the national Maccabiah squad to a second-place finish. Kirshner and his assistant, Amos Magee, became only the second and third members of the U.S. soccer delegation to have won two medals in the World Maccabiah Games. Additionally, Kirshner's squad earned the tournament's "Fair Play" Award, which is given to the team that exhibited the best sportsmanship.

Kirshner has valuable experience working with all levels of soccer having had stints with the Region IV Olympic Development Program (ODP) and serving as the interim head coach of the national runner-up West team during the 2001 U.S. regional championship. He was also as an assistant coach during the team's undefeated April 2002 tour of Australia.

Additionally, Kirshner has worked as both an assistant and head coach with the Northern California ODP U-23 men's team during 1995 and 1996. He led those squads to consecutive Western Regional championships, including a third-place finish at the 1995 Donnelly Cup. He also won a Western Regional title with the under-15 ODP Northern California state team as the assistant coach of the 1984 age group.

Kirshner maintains ties with the community through his involvement with the Hotspurs Soccer Club, for which he was the director of soccer operations from 1999-2002. Currently, Kirshner works for the PQ Premier coaching their U-12 boys team.

Kirshner owns a USSF A-License, which is the highest license attainable for soccer coaches in the U.S. He also received the NSCAA Premiere Badge with distinguished honors, the highest accolade provided by that organization.

Recently, Kirshner was inducted to the first hall of fame class at his alma mater, Mission San Jose High School. While at Mission San Jose, he guided his soccer team to two North Coast Section (NCS) appearances. During his senior season, he led his squad to its school's first soccer league title en route to the NCS semifinals, where it fell to De La Salle on penalty kicks. Kirshner was a three-time all-league selection and led his team in points all four years. Adding to his list of prep achievements, Kirshner finished third in the NCS badminton championships his junior year, won the title as a senior and was a varsity cross country runner his sophomore and junior years.

In his time away from soccer, Kirshner enjoys reading biographies of coaches. He is an avid golfer and resides in Pacific Beach.