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No. 24 Aztec Men's Soccer Wraps Up Three-Game Road Trip at Michigan State Sunday in a Key Non-Conference Match
Oct. 29, 2009
SAN DIEGO - Complete Release in PDF Format
No. 24 Aztec Men's Soccer Wraps Up Three-Game Road Trip at Michigan State
Sunday in a Key Non-Conference Match SDSU's recent success has vaulted the program into the top-25 for the first time since Oct. 29. 2007. San Diego State is currently ranked 24th by both Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer, and is receiving votes by Soccer Times. As the case has been this whole season, the Aztecs' opponent on Sunday won't be easy. The Spartans (10-4-1) come into the match riding a four-game winning streak, including a 1-0, double-overtime road victory over seven-time national champion Indiana, and consecutive 2-1 home triumphs over Bowling Green, Michigan and Notre Dame. In the latest edition of the RPI on Oct. 27, MSU jumped 47 places from the first release (Oct. 12) to a No. 23 rating, the sixth-greatest improvement in the country, and that was before it beat 21st-ranked Notre Dame, 2-1, on Wednesday. In addition, Michigan State, which won both the Big Ten regular season and conference title a year ago, will be riding the emotions of Senior Day as Tim Granaderos will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Initial weather reports call for a high of 45 degrees and 30 percent chance of precipitation for Sunday's match in East Lansing. No stranger to playing good teams in stressful conditions, SDSU is 4-2-1 against ranked opponents, including a 3-0-1 mark against top-15 schools, and has already set program records in most overtime games in a season (nine) and most consecutive overtime matches (six from Oct. 2-Oct. 23). Game #15: No. 24 San Diego State (6-4-4, 3-2-2 Pac-10) at Michigan
State (10-4-1, 2-3-0 Big Ten) Examining the Aztecs Reza's first goal came off an assist from redshirt senior Steve Beitashour (San Jose, Calif.), while his second came from freshman Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS). SDSU outcornered Cal, 5-4, and finished the game with eight shots, two each by redshirt sophomore Pedro Adan (San Diego/Preuss HS), Altamirano, senior Daniel Ortega (San Diego/Eastlake HS) and Reza. On Friday, junior Khadim Diouf (Dakar, Senegal) took a pass from Ortega just 2 minutes, 13 seconds into the first overtime and slotted a shot past a diving goalkeeper John Moore to give San Diego State a 2-1 victory over No. 17 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. It was Diouf's fifth game-winning goal of his 10 career tallies for SDSU, which also received a goal from senior preseason All-American Nick Cardenas (Thornton, Colo.). Ortega had both assists in the match, his third consecutive game with an assist. It was San Diego State's school-record ninth overtime contest of the year and its sixth straight overtime match (previous record was four). For the match, the Aztecs outshot Stanford, 13-8, led by Ortega's three attempts and Diouf's two. Byrns made four saves in 92:13, while Moore was counted on for four stops as well. On the season, Reza leads the team in points (15), goals (six), shots (30) and shots on goal (15). He also has three assists and two game-winning goals. Senior Evan Toft (Aurora, Colo.), who has missed the entire Pac-10 season, is still second on the team with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Cardenas (three goals, one assist) and freshman Morgan Sacco (Greeley, Colo.) (two goals, three assists) each have seven points, while Ortega has a team-high six assists. Byrns is 6-4-3 with a 1.21 goals against average over 1,264:19. More on Michigan State The all-time series between the two programs is even with one win each and a tie. At the Helm Since the men's soccer team earned its full allotment of scholarships in 2005, the Aztecs have gone 38-30-21, including a 17-15-15 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. Aztecs Ranked 11th in RPI In the latest edition of the RPI, the Aztecs (6-4-4, 3-2-2 Pac-10) moved up 45 places from the first release on Oct. 12. The 45-place jump from 56th to 11th is the seventh-best improvement in the nation and tops among current top-20 RPI teams. Only Sacramento State (92nd from 170th), Missouri State (39th from 102nd), Wisconsin (33rd from 90), San Jose State (137th from 188th), Hofstra (82nd from 131st) and Michigan State (23rd from 70th) have had bigger improvements over the 15 days. SDSU beat Wisconsin, 3-2, in double-overtime on Sept. 13 and travels to Michigan State on Sunday (Nov. 1). San Diego State is 1-1-1 against opponents currently rated in the top 10 in the RPI, 3-3-2 against the top 40 and 6-3-2 against the top 50. The Aztecs' only foe with a RPI rating higher than 60 is Pac-10 foe Oregon State. SDSU has four matches left on its regular season slate, including Sunday at the
Spartans (No. 23 in RPI), Nov. 6 against Washington (No. 57), Nov. 8 versus
Oregon State (No. 120) and Nov. 14 at UCLA (No. 2). The Bruins are currently
leading the Pac-10 with 14 points at 4-1-2 in league play, three points ahead of
San Diego State's 11 (3-2-2). The last time San Diego State was ranked was two years ago on Oct. 29, 2007, when it was No. 25 by Soccer America and No. 33 by Top Drawer Soccer. That year, the Aztecs reached as high as No. 18 by Soccer America in the Oct. 15 edition of the poll. The Air Up There Despite being a defender, Cardenas is tied for third on the squad this season with seven points on three goals and an assist. His .600 shot-on-goal percentage leads the team, while his 1,232 minutes rank second of all position players. Cardenas has anchored a backline which has posted 21 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. For his efforts, Reza was named to a pair of national teams of the week (College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer) and was selected as the Pac-10 Player of the Week. This year, Reza leads the team in points (15), goals (six), shots (30) and shots on goal (15). He also has three assists and two game-winning goals. Reza is ranked fifth in the Pac-10 in points per game (1.07) and in a tie for fifth in goals per game (0.43). In league games only, those rankings improve to a tie for third in both categories (1.00 PPG; 0.43 GPG). A year ago, Reza recorded the top offensive season this decade and one of the
top seasons of the past 20 years by getting 20 points on eight goals and four
assists. The 20 points were the most by an Aztec since Aaron Susi had 21 points
(seven goals, seven assists) in the 1996 campaign. Among the conference leaders, Byrns ranks first in saves and saves per game (4.46). In league matches, Byrns is first in saves (32) and saves per game (4.57), second in save percentage (80.5) and fourth in goals against average (1.05). 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 13-5-6 (.667) and ranks seventh in school history in
both goals against average (1.06) and saves (98). 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 14 matches. His four points
on one goal and two assists is tied for seventh on the team. In addition,
Altamirano has played 1,146 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. Ortega had four assists over a three-game period from Oct. 16-23, including a career-high two in SDSU's 2-1 win in overtime at No. 17 Stanford last Friday. Coming into the season, Ortega had seven points on two goals and three assists. With no goals and six assists this year, he needs just one point to equal his previous three-year total. Ortega is also tied for the team lead in +/- rating with a +6. 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. His +6 rating is tied
with fellow senior Jamel Wallace, while his +0.643 rating per 90 minutes is the
highest on the team for those who have played a minimum of 110 minutes. The impressive part of the story is that the tally was his fifth career game-winning goal, so 50 percent of his collegiate tallies have been for the win. Diouf had three game-winning scores (of five) during his freshman campaign in 2007, one (of three) in 2008 and now one (of two) this season. His six points on two goals and two assists this year are tied for fifth on the
team. Since he returned, the inspirational injury has helped the Aztecs go 3-1-1 and jump from last to second-place in the Pac-10 standings. McManus, who has been a huge help in the air and on throw-ins, has one goal for two points on five shots. McManus' best game arguably came at home against No. 16 Stanford on Oct. 16, his second match back. He scored the game's first goal in the 52nd minute and saved a Cardinal goal in the 84th minute when he headed a ball out of the net. Over his career, McManus has seven goals and four assists for 18 points. A two-time all-Pac-10 selections, including a second-team pick a year ago, Wallace has seen most of his time in the defensive midfield. One of the most athletic players on the team, Wallace has continued his dominant play in the air. Wallace is tied for the team lead with classmate Daniel Ortega with a +/- rating
(for explanation of the rating, see "Streaking Ortega"). His +0.528 rating per
90 minutes ranks fifth on the team and third among Aztecs with eight or more
appearances. Reza leads the way with 15 points on six goals and three assists, and is
followed by Toft (four goals, two assists), Cardenas (three goals, one assist)
and Sacco (two goals, three assists). Looking at SDSU's schedule, consider the following: * San Diego State's 13 scheduled opponents have combined for a .619 winning percentage (104-60-21). * Over the Aztecs' 18-game schedule, currently only Penn (5-6-3) and Washington (4-5-4) have a below-.500 record and each are just one game under. * Twelve of SDSU's 13 opponents (16-of-18 games) are ranked in the top-60 of the latest RPI (204 Division I programs), which was released on Oct. 27. * Of San Diego State's 18 games, nine (50 percent) are against teams who currently are either nationally ranked or receiving votes. * 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 Earlier this season, San Diego State set a school record with six straight
overtime matches. The six games all occurred in the Pac-10 season over a span
from Oct. 2-23. 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. 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). 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.
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