SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team plays at Grand Canyon for their final road match of the regular season Sunday at 7 p.m. PT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Aztec Tidbits
- The Aztecs are coming off a 0-0 draw at UTRGV Thursday evening.
- This was SDSU’s second straight shutout and fourth in their six WAC matches
- San Diego State is 5-0-1 in WAC play and alone in first place.
- This is the first time in program history that the Aztecs have gone unbeaten in their first six conference matches.
- SDSU is No. 42 in the RPI rankings, 19 spots ahead of the next closest WAC team (Seattle).
- The Aztecs could clinch a share of the WAC regular season championship Sunday with a win and if Seattle loses at San Jose State Saturday.
- San Diego State clinched a berth in the WAC Tournament with their draw at UTRGV Thursday.
- In conference play, SDSU leads the WAC in goals allowed average (0.33) and shutout percentage (0.67).
- The Aztecs lead the WAC in assists (21) and win-loss-tied percentage (63.3%) and are second in shot accuracy (43.5%) and shutout percentage (33%)
- SDSU has gone undefeated in four straight road matches (3-0-1) for the first time since 1989.
- The Aztecs are undefeated when scoring first (7-0-2) and undefeated when tied or leading at the half (7-0-3).
- SDSU is No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches Far West Region poll.
- The Aztecs gave Seattle their first conference loss since the 2022 season on Oct. 17.
- SDSU has played in eight matches decided by one goal and gone 7-1-0 in those matches and won six in a row.
- 11 of the Aztecs’ 15 matches have been a draw or been decided by one goal (7-1-3).
- SDSU is 23-11-5 at home since the beginning of the 2021 season.
- 13 different Aztecs have recorded a point this season and 10 have at least two points.
- The Aztecs will be competing in the WAC as an affiliate member this year following the demise of the Pac-12. SDSU, who played in the Pac-12 for the past 19 years, played in the WAC from 1996-98. The WAC has sent multiple
- SDSU’s match vs UC Davis on Sept. 21 at Snapdragon Stadium set a program record for attendance with 3,802 fans. All three of SDSU’s games at Snapdragon Stadium have resulted in new school records for attendance.
- The Aztecs ended non-conference play with a 3-4-2 record, their first time having a losing record in non-conference play since 2013. SDSU had gone undefeated in their non-conference slate in two of the previous three years.
- SDSU’s adjusted non-conference RPI is No. 15 in the nation. Four of their non-conference opponents have a RPI rank in the top 30.
- San Diego State has lost just four non-conference matches over their last 23 chances (14-4-5) and is 18-2-2 in non-conference home matches under head coach Ryan Hopkins (5th season).
- SDSU’s five goals against UC Riverside in their season opener tied for their most vs. a DI opponent in the Ryan Hopkins era (5th season).
- San Diego State has been in the national rankings in two of the last three seasons.
- Last season was the first since 2012 that SDSU had four players with at least 10 points. Three of those players return: Austin Brummett (17), Rommee Jaridly (13) and Terence Okoeguale (10).
Player Notes
- Robbie Matei was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring the game-winning goals in both of SDSU’s wins last week. This was Matei’s second time winning the award.
- Matei leads the Aztecs with six goals and four of them have been game-winners.
- Matei’s four game-winning goals are the second most in the nation.
- Matei, Terence Okoeguale and Austin Brummett all have at least five goals. It’s the first time since 2012 that three Aztecs have had at least five goals.
- All three are in the top seven in the WAC in goals and points.
- Okoeguale leads the team with 14 points (5 goals and 4 assists).
- Brummett’s 12 points are third on the team.
- Brummett’s 12 goals over the last two seasons are tied for the most by an Aztec over a two-year span since Jeroen Meefout across the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
- Brumett is second in the WAC in shot accuracy (55%) and third in shots on goal per game (1.1).
- In conference play, goalkeeper Djibril Doumbia leads the WAC in goals against average (0.33), shutout percentage (0.67) and save percentage (.882).
- The Aztecs only played two substitutes: Josh Lucas (37 minutes) and Ferran Florencio Catala (8 minutes).
- Long Island transfer André Puente was named a “Defender to Watch” by the United Soccer Coaches before the season, one of 16 players to be highlighted. Puente has been an All-NEC First Team selection each of the past three seasons and made the All-Northeast Region Team the past two years.
- Redshirt sophomore defender Reid Fisher was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American (College Soccer News) last season.
- Both Puente and Fisher were named top 100 players in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer in the preseason.
- Fisher was tabbed the WAC Preseason Defender of the Year by the league’s coaches.
- Rommee Jaridly, a Pac-12 honorable mention selection a year ago, is tied with Okoeguale for the team lead with four assists. Last year he was second on the team with 13 points (4 goals and 5 assists).
- Three players have started every match for SDSU: Brummett, Fisher and Jaridly.
- Fisher is the only Aztec to play every minute this season.
- Five other Aztecs average at least 75 minutes per match. Beto Apolinar, Tristan Viviani, Jaridly, Israel Carrillo and Brummett.
- Beto Apolinar, the team captain, is second on the team in minutes played (86 per match).
- SDSU has 10 players in their fourth, fifth or sixth year of college.
Opponent Notebook (Grand Canyon)
The ‘Lopes are 5-7-3 and 2-3-1 in the WAC… They are 3-4-1 at home… They are winless in their last three matches (0-2-1) and are coming off a 2-1 loss to California Baptist Thursday… They are allowing just 0.93 goals per game… Bright Nutornutsi leads the team in points (15) and goals (7)… Goalkeeper Leon Schmidt has five shutouts and a save percentage of 81.8%... Head coach George Kiefer is in his first year at GCU. He was previously the head coach at South Florida (2002-16) and NC State (2017-23)… The Aztecs are 3-1-1 all-time vs. Grand Canyon. They last played in 2015, a 3-1 Aztec win.
Coach Hopkins Take on Grand Canyon:
“It’s always tough to win on the road in college soccer. We’ll need to be more organized and clinical on the attack if we want to come away with three points.”