Sept. 3, 2014
San Jose, Calif. - The San José State men's soccer had a difficult opening week with a pair of tough losses on the road. But being home heals all wounds, as the Spartans defeated UMass Tuesday 4-1 in their home opener. The team now hopes to build on that success Saturday against Bay Area and preseason top-20 ranked foe Stanford.
San José State (1-2-0)
at Stanford (1-1-0)
Saturday, September 6, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
Laird Q. Cagan Stadium - Stanford, Calif.
Live stats are available for free at www.sjsuspartans.com
LIVE STATS
Fans can follow the action of all San José State home and most road contests by accessing the "Live Stats" feature on the men's soccer schedule page at www.sjsuspartans.com.
VIDEO STREAMING
Spartan Digital is your ALL-ACCESS passport to Spartan Athletics. For live and recorded video and audio of San José State men's soccer home games, go to the SPARTAN DIGITAL link on the home page at
www.sjsuspartans.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with all 19 San José State teams through social media sites Twitter and Facebook. For Twitter go to @sjsuathletics and on Facebook become friends with Sammy Spartan.
MEN'S SOCCER TICKETS
Tickets for all San José State men's soccer home games are free for all SJSU students, faculty and staff with a valid Tower Card. Adult tickets are $5.00, youth (12 years old and under) are $3.00 and any child wearing a jersey gets in for $1.00 on select match days.
Groups of 20 or more can purchase discounted tickets at $3.00 per person. The Ticket Office opens one hour prior to kickoff at Spartan Soccer Field or can be purchased by calling the San José State Ticket Office at 408-924-SJTX (7589).
KNIBBS ERUPTS FOR 3 GOALS AGAINST UMASS
Against Massachusetts (9/2) Rory Knibbs (So., F, London, England) did what no Spartan has done since the 2000 season, he scored three goals in a match. His three tallies, all coming in the second half ,led the Spartans to a 4-1 defeat of the Minutemen on Spartan Soccer Field.
Knibbs' is the first San José State men's soccer player to accomplish the feat since Jorge Martinez scored four goals in the first game of the 2000 season. Knibbs was also in the first score of the game, with an assist on Ruben Want's goal in the 26th minute.
KNIBBS SEVEN POINTS/THREE GOALS/SEVEN SHOTS A CONFERENCE SINGLE-GAME BEST
Rory Knibbs' three goals and seven total points against UMass (9/2) tie him with UNLV's Salvador Bernal for single game highs in the WAC this year. Bernal did it against Bradley (8/31).
Knibbs also unleashed seven shots against UMass, also a single game high in the conference in 2014.
COLUNGA FEEDS THE BEAST
Johnathan Colunga (So., MF, Lindsay, Calif.) is the man behind the San José State goals. The transfer from CSU Bakersfield leads the Spartans and the Western Athletic Conference with three assists in 2014. His two assists against UMass (9/2) are tied for the WAC single-game high this year.
IF YOU SHOOT THE GOALS WILL COME
Through September 2, San José State leads the WAC in shots and is tied for the most goals. The Spartans have attempted 45 shots in three game, an average of 15 per outing and have found the back of the net six times.
SCOUTING STANFORD
The Cardinal, members of the PAC-12 Conference, were ranked No. 20 in the preseason and are 1-1-0 so far this year. The team has played both its games on the road in Omaha, Neb. They dropped their opener 2-0 to Creighton before a 2-1 overtime win against Nebraska-Omaha. The game between the Spartans and Stanford is the Cardinal home opener.
In records since 1954, Stanford holds a slim 28-27-7 lead in the series. The majority of the Spartans success came early on. They are just 3-4-5 in the last 12 meeting, dating back to the 1998 season. The last match up was a 2-1 overtime result for Stanford in 2012.
The Cardinal have gotten a goal and an assist from Eric Verso and Bobby Edwards. Zach Batteer has also been credited with an assist.
Andrew Epstein has played every minute in goal for Stanford. He has made one save and given up three goals.
Head Coach Jeremy Gunn is in his third season leading the Stanford program. He has an 83-41-19 in nine seasons as a collegiate head coach. Gunn played for and was a seven-year assistant under current Spartans head coach Simon Tobin at CSU Bakersfield.