Oct. 8, 2014
San Jose, Calif. - This week, the San José State men's soccer team completes its longest stretch away from Spartan Soccer Field, three games, with matches at Western Athletic Conference opponents Air Force and Missouri-Kansas City.
San José State (2-7-0, 0-1-0 WAC)
at Air Force (5-1-3, 1-0-0 WAC)
Friday, October 10, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
Soccer Stadium - Colorado Springs, Colo.
Live stats and streaming video are available for free at www.sjsuspartans.com
at UMKC (2-6-1, 0-1-0 WAC)
Sunday, October 12, 2014, 1:00 p.m.
Durwood Soccer Stadium - Kansas City, Mo.
Live stats are available at www.sjsuspartans.com and streaming video ($5.95 fee) at http://www.umkckangaroos.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.
COLUNGA LEADS WAC IN ASSISTS PER GAME
Johnathan Colunga (So. MF, Lindsay, Calif.) has assisted on four of the Spartans 13 goals this season and shares the Western Athletic Conference lead for assists per game (0.50). At his current pace, he could end the season with 10 assists and become just the fifth Spartan to reach double-digit assists in a season since 1990. The last to reach double figures in assists for SJSU was Lars Lyssand. He had 10 in the 2001 season.
Colunga also ranks 24th in the nation in assists per game and 36th in total assists.
KNIBBS REMAINS AMONG THE NATIONS BEST
Despite being held scoreless for the Spartans last three games, Rory Knibbs (So., F, London, England) still ranks among the most dangerous strikers in the WAC and the nation.
Knibbs ranks sixth in the conference in goals with four and is sixth in points with 10. Nationally he ranks 75th in total goals and 86th in goals per game. In addition, his 1.11 points per game is the 74th best in the nation.
SPARTANS SHEDDING MONIKER OF BEING NAUGHTY BOYS
In 2013, San José State led the Western Athletic Conference in both fouls (302) and yellow cards (44). However in 2014, under first year head coach Simon Tobin, the Spartans are on the opposite end of the rankings in yellow cards and much improved in fouls committed.
Through nine matches, the Spartans have only been booked eight times for yellow cards, by far the fewest in the league, and are the only side in the WAC that are being issued less than a card a match. The team ranks sixth among the 10 teams in the WAC for fouls committed. Being ranked first means you have committed the most fouls. The Spartans have been whistled for 112 fouls through nine matches. That's 39 fewer fouls committed than through nine games last year.
SPARTANS TAKING ENOUGH SHOTS AND SCORING GOALS, BUT THE WINS ARE HARD TO COME BY
San José State ranks fourth in the WAC in shots with 124 total through nine games and are right on pace with last season when they reached the championship match of the WAC Tournament. The three teams ahead of them Bakersfield (175), UNLV (145) and Air Force (135) are at the top of the conference table.
In addition, the team ranks third in the WAC in goals scored with 13. The only teams ahead of the Spartans in goals are Bakersfield (27) and UNLV (24).
Despite producing a high volume of shots and being among the top scoring sides in the conference, the Spartans have won just two matches so far this year and were defeated in their WAC opener 1-5 at Bakersfield last Saturday.
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.
TOBIN JUST THE THIRD HEAD COACH TO LEAD THE SPARTANS IN 60 YEARS
When Simon Tobin agreed to lead San José State's men's soccer team, he became just the third head coach to lead the program since 1954. Julius Menendez guided the Spartans for 36 years (1954-89) and compiled a 295-205-45 record. Gary St. Clair was at the helm from 1990-2013, (24 years) and finished with a career record of 217-211-41.
KNIBBS HAT TRICK THE FIRST FOR SPARTA SINCE 2000
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. 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. His three tallies, all coming in the second half, led the Spartans to a 4-1 win over the Minutemen on Spartan Soccer Field. Knibbs was also in the first score of the game, with an assist on Ruben Want's goal in the 26th minute.
SCOUTING AIR FORCE
The Falcons enter the week with an overall record of 5-1-3, 1-0-0 in WAC play. Last week they hosted UMKC in their conference opener and earned a 2-0 win. Air Force has not been defeated in their home pitch this year, posting a 4-0-1 record.
In records since 1954, the Spartans hold a 20-10-4 advantage in the overall series. In 13 matches contended in Colorado Springs, Colo., since the 1993 season, the Spartans are 5-7-1 against Air Force. In 2012, the last meeting at the Air Force Academy, the Spartans dropped a 1-3 decision.
Junior forward Zach Hill leads the Falcons attack with a team-high three goals and six points. Gus Jensen, a junior midfielder, has two tallies and two assist for six points, as well. An additional five players have found the back of the net one time this year for Air Force.
Jake Schenk has played the all of the minutes in goal for the Falcons. He has allowed just four shots past his line for a GAA of 0.41, while stopping 51 (.927 save%). His record is 5-3-1 and he has five clean sheets.
Head Coach Doug Hill is in his eighth season leading the Air Force Academy program. In the seven years prior to 2014, he compiled a 50-71-14 record.
LAST TIME AGAINST AIR FORCE (10/27/13)
San Jose, Calif. - The San José State men's soccer team seemed headed for a 1-0 win on Sunday afternoon in Spartans Stadium, but a goal in the 89th minute by the Air Force Falcons and two scoreless overtime periods left them with a draw in a Western Athletic Conference match.
The Spartans controlled the ball and pace of play throughout the match.
In the first half they out shot the Falcons 9-to-2. Frankie Beauchamp took four of his game high five shots and both Ben Cowdrill's shot attempts were on frame. The play was conducted in the Air Force half of the field, but the Spartans (2-10-3, 2-4-1 WAC) couldn't find the back of the net.
The second half saw San José State continued its strong play. They again out shot the Falcons (1-9-4, 2-4-1 WAC) 5-to-2 and in the 79th minute finally broke though against Air Force keeper Jake Schenk.
With the defense focused on the ball and play in front of the right side of the goal, Cowdrill snuck behind everyone. Jamison Loveless dropped the ball over the defenders to the left side of the goal. Cowdrill picked it up and placed it past Schenk for a 1-0 lead. It's Cowdrill's first collegiate goal.
From there the Spartans seemed headed for the win, but with just 24 second left on the clock Falcon Blake Elder picked up a loose ball from close on the left wing. He turned and fired it high to the far post for the equalizer.
The team's played through two overtimes with Air Force attempting three shots to the Spartans two and the game ended in a draw.
Overall, San José State out shot Air Force 17-to-6 and 9-to-1 in shots on goal. After Beauchamp's five shots, Cowdrill had three. Andy Kelly, Rory Knibbs and Enrique Montano each took two and Kyle O'Mahoney, Uriel Ayala and Ryan Thomas had a shot a piece.
Elder, who scored the Falcons' goal led his side with three shots.
SCOUTING UMKC
The Kangaroos enter the week with an overall record of 2-6-1, 0-1-0 in WAC play. Last week they played at Air Force and dropped a 0-2 decision in their Western Athletic Conference opener.
This will be just the second time the Spartans and `Roos have met. In the first meeting of the series, last year, San José State earned a 3-1 win in Kansas City.
Senior forward Jordan Rideout has a team-high two goals and four points. An additional three players have found the back of the net one time this year for UMKC, who have found it tough to put the ball in the back of the net.
Chris McGaughey, a senior, has played every minute in goal for the `Roos. He has allowed 12 shots in for a GAA of 1.30, while stopping 41 (.774 save%). His record is 2-6-1 and he has one clean sheet.
Head Coach Rick Benben is in his 17th season leading the UMKC program. He brought a 180-267-39 record into this year.
LAST TIME AGAINST UMKC (11/1/13)
Kansas City, Mo. - The San José State men's soccer team got two goals from Rory Knibbs and ran its unbeaten streak to a season-high three games in a 3-1 Western Athletic Conference victory against the Kangaroos of Kansas City on Friday night.
San José State jumped on the `Roos early. Knibbs, who led both teams with four shots, wasted no time getting the Spartans on the board. On the first shot of the game, he found the back of the net. Frankie Beauchamp played a ball into the six-yard box where Knibbs put it home with just 2:55 gone in the contest.
The Spartans enjoyed a 7-to-5 advantage in shots and a 3-to-2 advantage in shots on goal in the first 45 minutes and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.
Just 1:36 into the second half, Knibbs struck again. He scored his second goal of the game and seventh of the season on an unassisted put back off a deflection in the box. It's the second time in the last three games that Knibbs has scored twice in a match. The goal, which put San José State up 2-0, turned out to be his second game-winner of the campaign.
Kansas City, who out shot the Spartans 7-to-5 in the second half, cut he lead to 2-1 on Jordan Rideout's 56th minute goal. It was on a put back off a shot off the far post of Emmanuel Espinosa's goal and the only one of the five shots the `Roos put on frame that got past him.
San José State closed the scoring in the 82nd minute on freshman Bryan Ruiz-Unger's first tally of the year. Knibbs and Beauchamp assisted on the goal, which Ruiz-Unger fired in from 12 yards out. With two assists, Beauchamp increased his team lead in assists to five this season.