SDSU prepares for regular season on road against cross-town foe
The San Diego State men’s soccer team has its tune-up for the 2014 season when it heads west on Interstate 8 to take on University of San Diego in a friendly on Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. PT. Admission to the match is $5, and both live streaming and live stats will be available on GoAztecs.com.
The Aztecs return eight letterwinners and have welcomed 19 newcomers to the roster for the 2014 campaign. SDSU’s recruiting class is ranked 37th in the nation and will be relied on heavily as the Aztecs play 11 matches against teams that made the 2013 NCAA Tournament, and take on seven teams that appear in the NSCAA preseason top 25 or are receiving votes.
San Diego State has a 12-6-2 all-time record against USD, including winning two of the last three meetings, in a series that began in 1980. The Aztecs started the 2013 season on a high note by defeating No. 16 San Diego, 5-0, in its season-opener at SDSU Sports Deck.
SDSU is led by a trio of senior defenders, including team captain Evyn Hewett (La Palma, Calif.), Wil Cannon (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Henrik Synnes (Vigra, Norway), who combined for 30 starts between them in 2013. In addition, junior goalkeeper John Marcuzzo (Oakland, Calif.) tallied 15 saves in five appearances (four starts) last season, while junior defender Casey Phillips (Tempe, Ariz.) appeared in 14 matches with three starts a year ago.
USD went 6-10-4 in 2013, but returns four of its top-five leading scorers including senior Connor Brandt, junior Keegan Smith and junior Torrey DeArmas. In addition, the Toreros also return first-team all-WCC senior defender Julian Ringhof.
San Diego State opens its regular-season schedule at home against CSU Bakersfield on Friday, Aug. 29, beginning at 7 p.m. PT. It will be the first contest of SDSU’s season-opening six-match homestand, as the Aztecs also play host to Buffalo (Aug. 31, noon PT), Clemson (Sept. 5, 7 p.m. PT), Denver (Sept. 7, 1 p.m. PT), Wright State (Sept. 12, 7 p.m. PT) and Pacific (Sept. 14, 7 p.m. PT).