Nov. 4, 2015
San Jose, Calif. - On Saturday, November 7, the San José State men's soccer team hopes to celebrate three times. First, honoring its six seniors who will be competing for the final time on Spartan Soccer Field. The second time is with a win over the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners, and the third time, is with a bid to the 2015 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Men's Soccer Tournament.
San José State Spartans (6-10-1, 4-4-1 WAC)
vs.
CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (7-5-4, 4-3-2 WAC)
Saturday, November 7, 2015, 2:00 p.m. (PT)
Spartan Soccer Field, San Jose, Calif.
Live stats at www.sjsuspartans.com
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS…
With one game left in the regular season, the Spartans find themselves in a four-way tie with UNLV, Houston Baptist and Air Force, for fifth place in the conference standings. The top six teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the 2015 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. There are three scenarios in which the Spartans can punch their ticket to Kansas City next week.
- A WIN on Saturday and San José State is in the tournament.
- A TIE and San José State will need a loss by one of the three teams it is tied with (UNLV, HBU, AFA) to get into the tournament.
- A LOSS and a win by UMKC over Air Force will get San José State in to the tournament.
SENIOR DAY
Prior to Saturday's kickoff, the Spartan soccer team and San José State Athletics will celebrate and thank six seniors who will be competing for the final time on Spartan Soccer Field. Alex Anastasi, Emmanuel Espinoza, Victor Parra, Felix Petermann and Mikhail Wingate-Pearse will be honored for their contributions to the program. The ceremony will begin at approximately 1:40 p.m.
ABOUT SAN JOSÉ STATE
The Spartans host the final game of the regular season on Spartan Soccer Field, where they have posted 4-2-1 record this year.
Junior striker Rory Knibbs is the only player to start every match in 2015 for SJSU, and leads the team in virtually every offensive category including shots (53 which is #4 in the WAC), shots on goal (28), goals (11, #2 in the WAC), points (23, #3 in the WAC), game winners (4, #2 in the WAC) and penalty kicks (3-for-4).
First-year Spartan, junior midfielder Alex Alcaraz tops the side with four assists, eighth most in the conference. Junior mid Jonathan Colunga (4 goals), freshman striker Zach Penner (2) and junior defender Kyler McLaughlin (2) are the other Spartans who have found the back of the net multiple times.
Senior keeper Felix Petermann has started the last five games, appeared in the last six, and has a goals against average of 1.08, which is third best in the WAC. His save percentage is .742, fifth best in conference, and with one shutout, has posted a record of 2-4-1.
Head Coach Simon Tobin is in his second season leading the Spartans. Entering the 2015 season, his career record, in 28 seasons, was 311-200-56.
ABOUT CSU BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners in third place in the WAC table with 14 points, enters the week 4-3-2 in conference action and an overall record of 7-5-4. Last week, CSUB won 4-2 at Houston Baptist but lost to the last placed team in the conference, UTRGV, 0-3. The team is 3-4-2 away from its home field including going 1-3-0 in conference road games.
CSU Bakersfield has gotten a team-leading eight goals from sophomore striker Julian Zamora. Simon Doherty, a senior forward, leads the team with six assists. Junior keeper Nicholas Clever has logged the majority of the minutes (1151:53). His goals against average is 1.48 and save percentage is .689. Clever's record is 5-4-3 and he has two shutouts.
Head Coach Richie grant is in his second season leading the Roadrunners' program. He brought a 145-123-27 career record into 2015.
THE SERIES
This will be the 15th men's soccer meeting between these two schools. The Spartans hold an 8-6-0 advantage in the all-time series. In the six games contested on San José State's home field the teams have split: going 3-3-0.