Oct. 22, 2009

SAN DIEGO -

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Aztec Men's Soccer Begins Key Three-Game Road Trip Friday at No. 17 Stanford; Plays 11th-Ranked California on Sunday
The San Diego State men's soccer team begins a key three-game road trip this weekend with matches against No. 17 Stanford and 11th-ranked California. The Aztecs (4-4-4, 1-2-2 Pac-10), who have only two losses in their last 10 contests, will meet the Cardinal (8-3-1, 2-2-1 Pac-10) at 7 p.m. Friday before playing the Bears (8-5-0, 2-3-0 Pac-10) at 2 p.m. Sunday. It will be the fifth and sixth consecutive nationally ranked opponents for SDSU.

Stanford comes into the weekend ranked 17th by Soccer Times, 18th by College Soccer News, 21st by NSCAA and Soccer America, and 26th by Top Drawer Soccer. California is even better at No. 11 by College Soccer News, 15th by Top Drawer Soccer, 19th by Soccer Times, 20th by NSCAA and 25th by Soccer America.

San Diego State's games this weekend are crucial as five teams from second to sixth are separated by two points in the Pac-10 standings through one round of the play. UCLA leads the way with 11 points and a 3-0-2 record. Stanford is second with seven points, followed by California, Oregon State and Washington with six points each and the Aztecs with five points.

SDSU has already played one of the toughest schedules in the nation as its 13 scheduled opponents have combined for a .609 winning percentage (90-54-21). Only three of its opponents currently have a below-.500 record, while five (over eight Aztec games) are projected by Top Drawer Soccer to make the 2009 NCAA tournament.

Game #13: San Diego State (4-4-4, 1-2-2 Pac-10) at No. 17 Stanford (8-3-1, 2-2-1 Pac-10)
Friday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m. PT, Laird Q. Cagan Stadium (2,000), Palo Alto, Calif.
Series Info: SDSU leads, 9-4-5 | In San Diego: SDSU leads, 5-1-3
In Palo Alto: SDSU leads, 4-3-2 | Neutral: N/A
Pac-10 Era: SDSU leads, 4-3-2 | Pac-10 Era in SD: SDSU leads, 3-1-1
Pac-10 Era in Palo Alto: Stanford leads, 2-1-1 | Streak: Stanford 1
Live Coverage: Live video (for a fee) on GoStanford.com; Gametracker on GoAztecs.com

Game #14: San Diego State at No. 11 California (8-5-0, 2-3-0 Pac-10, entering Friday's UCLA match)
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2 p.m. PT, Edwards Stadium (22,000), Berkeley, Calif.
Series Info: SDSU leads, 16-12-2 | In San Diego: SDSU leads, 11-2-1
In Berkeley: California leads, 10-5-1 | Neutral: N/A
Pac-10 Era: SDSU leads, 6-2-1 | Pac-10 Era in San Diego: SDSU leads, 5-0-0
Pac-10 Era in Berkely: California leads, 2-1-1 | Streak: SDSU, 2
Live Coverage: Gametracker on GoAztecs.com

Examining the Aztecs
San Diego State is coming off a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over California Sunday afternoon at SDSU Sports Deck. Freshman Morgan Sacco (Greeley, Colo.) finished off a cross from senior Daniel Ortega (San Diego/Eastlake HS) with 44 seconds left in the first overtime. Junior Raymundo Reza (Denver, Colo.) scored the first goal for the Aztecs, who improved to 2-0-1 against top-10 teams this season and 6-1-4 since 2005, and also earned an assist on Sacco's game-winner. It was the school-record fifth consecutive overtime match for SDSU, which once again played without senior leading scorer Evan Toft (Aurora, Colo.).

The Aztecs outshot the Bears, who came into the weekend ranked 11th in the nation in scoring with 2.27 goals per game, by an 18-10 margin, including a 13-3 advantage over the final 54:36. The win gave SDSU a 6-2-1 record against Cal in its Pac-10 era (since 2005).

San Diego State had numerous chances to score before and after Reza's goal, but Cal goalkeeper David Bingham was up to the challenge. Most of the opportunities came in the second half and overtime, including quality chances by Reza, senior preseason All-American Nick Cardenas (Thornton, Colo.), redshirt senior Jamel Wallace (San Diego/Oceanside HS) and a couple by Ortega.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Brad Byrns (Alamo, Calif.) played all 99:16 and made three saves, including a diving stop on Demetrius Omphroy in the 40th minute. With 89 career saves, Byrns trails Colin Hanke (2002-03) by one for seventh on the school's all-time list. Bingham made five stops for California.

On Friday, the Aztecs fell at home to Stanford, 2-1, in overtime despite scoring the game's first goal. Redshirt senior captain Matt McManus (Santa Clarita, Calif.) scored for SDSU in the 52nd minute, but the Cardinal answered with two scores over the final 5:19. San Diego State, which played without senior starters Cardenas and Toft, as well as redshirt sophomore starter Justin Davies (San Diego/Brooks School (Mass.)), received a game-high five saves from Byrns.

On the season, Reza leads the team with 11 points on four goals and three assists. Toft, who has missed the last five matches, is second with 10 points (four goals, two assists), while Sacco has contributed seven points on two goals and three assists. Cardenas (two goals, one assist) and Ortega (four assists) have also helped offensively, while Byrns is 4-4-3 in net with a 1.33 goals against average over 1,082-plus minutes.

Scouting No. 17 Stanford
Stanford is off to an impressive start to the season, compiling a 8-3-1 record, including a 2-2-1 mark in the Pac-10. Last season, the Cardinal was 4-11-3 overall. Stanford comes into the weekend ranked 17th by Soccer Times, 18th by College Soccer News, 21st by NSCAA and Soccer America, and 26th by Top Drawer Soccer.

Stanford is averaging 1.50 goals per game after averaging just 0.82 in 2008. Bobby Warshaw leads the team with five goals and 11 points. Adam John, Daniel Leon and Evan Morgan have two tallies each. The Cardinal have given up 11 goals, which ranks second in the conference. Stanford goalkeeper John Moore leads the league with five shutouts, while his 0.89 goals against average ranks him third.

Despite the loss to the Cardinal on Friday, San Diego State leads the all-time series, 9-4-5, including a 4-3-2 advantage in its Pac-10 era (since 2005).

Previewing No. 11 California
California currently is ranked No. 11 by College Soccer News, 15th by Top Drawer Soccer, 19th by Soccer Times, 20th by NSCAA and 25th by Soccer America. The Bears, however, have three losses over their last four matches, including Sunday's 2-1 overtime setback at SDSU. Cal is tied for fourth in the Pac-10 with six points (2-3-0), one point ahead of the Aztecs.

California, which leads the Pac-10 with 26 goals, is led by junior All-American Andrew Wiedeman. Wiedeman leads the league in points (23) and goals (10), and is tied for second in shots (42). Jeff Cosgriff (six goals, four assists) and Hector Jimenez (one goal, eight assists) have been the team's other top scorers. David Bingham leads the goalkeeping unit, with a 6-4-0 record and 0.94 goals against average over almost 858 minutes.

SDSU leads the all-time series, 16-12-2, including a 6-2-1 mark in its four-year history of the Pac-10.

At the Helm
Lev Kirshner is in his 10th year as the head coach and 13th season overall. Kirshner, just one of three coaches in the 40-year history of the program, has brought SDSU back to the national spotlight with back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Pac-10 (2006-07) and two trips to the NCAA tournament in the past four seasons.

Since the men's soccer team earned its full allotment of scholarships in 2005, the Aztecs have gone 36-30-21,including a 15-15-15 mark in the Pac-10.

Over his nine seasons, Kirshner has coached two All-America selections, three Academic All-America picks, eight professional players, six all-Far West selections and 40 all-conference picks.

Cardenas Living Up to College Soccer News Preseason All-America Status
San Diego State's Nick Cardenas (Thornton, Colo./Horizon HS) was named a preseason All-American by College Soccer News in early July. A senior, Cardenas was picked as a third-team selection by the website after being a third-team preseason member in 2007 as well.

Despite being a defender, Cardenas is fourth on the squad this season with five points on two goals and an assist. His .571 shot-on-goal percentage leads the squad, while his 1,061 minutes rank second of all position players. His second-place ranking comes on the heals of missing Friday's game against Stanford.

Cardenas has anchored a backline which has posted 20 shutouts over his three-year career. Last season, Cardenas tallied a career-high four assists while leading the team in minutes played (1,646). A member of the 2008 preseason M.A.C. Hermann Award Watch List, Cardenas became the first Aztec to be named to three straight NSCAA/adidas all-Far West teams since Kyle Whittemore (1985-88) when he was picked as a second-team selection in December. He also garnered all-Pac-10 Conference accolades for the third consecutive year.

A 2006 U.S. U-20 National Team Camp call-up, Cardenas has twice been named a national player of the week (Sept. 17, 2007 by Top Drawer Soccer and Nov. 1, 2006 by NSCAA/adidas). In 2006, Cardenas was picked as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, as well as a College Soccer News All-Freshman and a Top Drawer Soccer All-Rookie first-team selection.

The Ball Stops Here
Redshirt junior Brad Byrns (Alamo, Calif.) is quietly putting together another solid season on The Mesa. Byrns, who missed most of last season with an arm injury, is 4-4-3 with a 1.33 goals against average over 1,082:06. He has 49 saves for a 75.4 save percentage and two shutouts. His 4.45 saves per game lead the conference.

Byrns gave up a goal at Oregon State 56:02 into the match, ending his streak of not surrendering a tally at 300:02. The scoreless streak started in the second half against UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 25 and ended on Oct. 4 at the Beavers. The streak is Byrns' second-longest of his career, trailing a 2007 streak that lasted 341:31.

Over his career, Byrns is 11-5-6 (.636) and ranked among the school leaders in goals against average (1.11, tied for seventh) and saves (89, eighth).

Altamirano Named One of 100 Freshmen to Keep an Eye On
San Diego State men's soccer player Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS) has been picked by College Soccer News as one of the 100 Freshmen From Coast To Coast To Keep An Eye On. Current Aztecs who have previously been named to the preseason list include seniors Daniel Ortega (San Diego/Eastlake HS) and Evan Toft (Aurora, Colo./Grandview HS), and redshirt sophomore Gemechu Abraham (Beaverton, Ore./Beaverton HS).

Altamirano (5-7, 135) comes to The Mesa as the most heralded recruit in recent history. Altamirano is a member of three U.S. national team age groups (U-20, U-18, U-17) and is a three-time NSCAA Youth All-American (2006-08). Altamirano, who ESPNRISE.com ranks as the third-best prospect in the country and Top Drawer Soccer.com rates as the fifth, also garnered All-America accolades from EA Sports, Parade Magazine and ESPNRISE.com after the 2008 campaign. Additionally, Altamirano was picked as the CIF Player of the Year and San Diego County's Player of the Year.

He is certainly living up to the accolades so far. Altamirano has started nine times and is one of just five Aztecs to play in all 12 matches, while recording one goal and one assist for three points. He has played 1,019 minutes, which ranks fourth on the team and first among midfielders or forwards. In fact, only defenders Nick Cardenas and Daniel Steres, and goalkeeper Brad Byrns have played more minutes.

Altamirano is also tied for the team lead in +/- rating with a +3. The rating, usually used in hockey, measures the success of your team when you are on the field. If you are on the field and your team scores, that's a +1. If you are on the field when your team gives up a goal, that's a -1.

The Colorado Contingent
If you look at the top four scorers for this year's Aztecs, you might see something in common: all four hail from Colorado. The group - junior Raymundo Reza (Denver), senior Evan Toft (Aurora), freshman Morgan Sacco (Greeley) and senior Nick Cardenas (Thornton) have combined for 33 points on 12 goals and nine assists. That's 55 percent of the team's points (33-of-60), 63.2 percent of the team's goals (12-of-19) and 40.9 percent (9-of-22) of the team's assists. In addition, the contingent has had a point (goal or an assist) in 15 of SDSU's 19 goals (78.9 percent).

Reza leads the way with 11 points on four goals and three assists, and is followed by Toft (four goals, two assists), Sacco (two goals, three assists) and Cardenas (two goals, one assist).

To Be the Best, You Have to Beat the Best
Former WWE champion and hall of famer Ric Flair used to say, "To be the best, you have to beat the best." That saying can't apply any more than to this year's Aztecs.
Looking at SDSU's schedule, consider the following:
* San Diego State's 13 scheduled opponents have combined for a .609 winning percentage (90-54-21). If you count its Pac-10 opponents twice, as the Aztecs play each league team two times, it's even better at .612 (124-73-30).
* Over the Aztecs' 18-game schedule, currently only Wisconsin (4-6-2), Penn (4-6-3) and Washington (4-5-4) have a below-.500 record.
* Nine of SDSU's 13 opponents (13-of-18 games) are ranked in the top-50 of the latest RPI (204 Division I programs), which was released on Oct. 13.
* Of San Diego State's 18 games, nine (50 percent) are against teams who currently are either nationally ranked or receiving votes.
* Of the team's 13 opponents, five are predicted to make the NCAA tournament according to Top Drawer Soccer, including California, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford and San Diego
* Of SDSU's 13 opponents, four are former national champions (Michigan State, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Wisconsin)
* Of the Aztecs 18 games, seven are against teams who made the NCAA tournament a year ago (California twice, Michigan State, Penn, UCLA twice and UC Santa Barbara)
* Of San Diego State's 13 opponents, two earned national seeds (No. 4 Michigan State and No. 15 UC Santa Barbara) in last year's NCAA tournament

Aztecs Know Bonus Soccer
SDSU has played in a school-record five straight overtime matches heading into the weekend's trip to the Bay Area. All five overtime matches have been in Pac-10 play, beginning Oct. 2 in a 0-0, double-overtime draw at Washington.

In fact, eight of the Aztecs' 12 games this season have been decided in overtime, where SDSU is 2-2-4. The eight matches of extra soccer is tied for the most in school history, joining the 2001 and 2005 seasons.

Aztecs Picked to Finish Fifth in Pac-10.....Again
Despite returning eight starters from last season, including six all-conference selections, the San Diego State men's soccer team has been picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10 Conference in the preseason poll voted on by the league's coaches on Aug. 13.

SDSU picked up nine points, three behind fourth-place Washington (12). California is predicted to win the regular season title with 24 points, including four first-place votes, while UCLA grabbed the other two first-place votes and is picked to finish second with 22 points. Stanford is third with 15 points, followed by the Huskies (12), the Aztecs (9) and Oregon State (8).
San Diego State, which has never been picked higher than fourth in its five preseason polls, has finished the season better than each of its predicted finishes. In its inaugural Pac-10 season in 2005, SDSU was picked sixth, yet managed a fourth-place finish. The Aztecs finished second in each of their next two seasons despite being picked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the preseason poll. Last year, San Diego State was picked fifth but finished third in league play.

Aztec Men's Soccer Recruiting Class Ranked No. 22 in the Nation
San Diego State's 2009 men's soccer recruiting class has been ranked as the 22nd-best in America by College Soccer News. It is the third top-25 class by SDSU in the past four years and fourth top-40 recruiting class over the past five campaigns.

The accolades of the five-player group include, but are not limited to, an under-17, 18 and 20 U.S. national team starter, numerous high school All-Americans, multiple starters on ODP teams, a nationally-ranked goalkeeper and one of the top defenders from the state of Texas.

On the website, the Aztecs are one spot behind perennial power Indiana (21st) and ahead of South Carolina (23rd), Harvard (24th) and Santa Clara (25th). Other schools behind San Diego State include Big East members St. John's (26th), Connecticut (27th) and Georgetown (28th), Big West programs Cal Poly (33rd) and UC Irvine (38th), and SEC power Clemson (35th).

Aztec Men's Soccer and Kick for Hope Team Up to Raise Money for Africa
The San Diego State men's soccer team recently concluded a successful soccer clinic with Kick for Hope, a nonprofit organization that organizes soccer events to raise money for charities in Africa. It benefits children in Africa whose lives are ravaged by poverty and disease such as HIV/aids and malaria.

Following the Aztecs' game against San Diego on Sept. 6, SDSU head coach Lev Kirshner and the rest of the men's soccer team ran a one-hour soccer clinic for participating boys and girls from the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). All the benefits went directly to Kick for Hope.

"We are extremely grateful to SDSU for hosting the AYSO clinic to benefit Kick for Hope," Kick for Hope President Kristen Chandler said. "While raising $550 to support our efforts, we also raised awareness among the youth and their families about the struggles facing African children, who like them, have a passion for soccer. We hope each player left with a sense of satisfaction that their participation will not only impact their game, but will also impact on the lives of some of the poorest children in the world."

In addition to the Kick for Hope soccer clinic with the AYSO players, Kirshner also did a special coaches clinic with various coaches of club teams in the area. Some of the topics Kirshner focused on included practice organization, attacking and defending techniques and strength and conditioning methods, to name a few.