THE SCHEDULE: San José State returns home on Saturday for its penultimate non-conference match, playing host to UC Davis. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Spartan Soccer Complex.
FOLLOW ALONG: Saturday's match will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network with Jess Knaster on the call. Live stats will be available and you can follow every San José State men's soccer game live on Twitter, @SanJoseStateMS.
SECURE THE BAG: Be sure to arrive early for the match as the first 100 fans in attendance will receive free Spartan drawstring bags.
SIMON SAYS: "I felt like we played our best soccer in last year's first half at UC Davis before they came back on us late," says head coach Simon Tobin. "This will be another game against a tournament-caliber opponent that prepares us for conference play and our ultimate goal."
FIRST TOUCHES:
- Four different players (Eduardo Buenfil, Suliman Khorami, Danny Sanchez, Rodolfo Castro) have scored a goal this season.
- Midfielder Max Allen leads the team with 12 shots and five shots on goal through five matches.
- The Spartans' 1-0 lead in its September 9 match against Saint Mary's marked the first time the Gaels have trailed in a match since September 16, 2018 (0-1 at UC Riverside).
- In addition, SJSU was the first team to score on the No. 8 Gaels in 2019.
- Allen was named to the All-WAC Preseason Team last month.
- Allen and juniors Omar Lemus and Willy Miranda are also back for the Spartans after earning All-WAC honors a year ago.
- Lemus led the Spartans in both goals (six) and assists (four) as a sophomore in 2018. He enters the 2019 campaign with 18 career points.
UNDERSTANDING UC DAVIS:
- San José State has played UC Davis 23 times in program history, leading the all-time series with a record of 12-9-2.
- The Spartans are 5-0 in their last five matches against the Aggies in San José dating back to 1980. The program has outscored the Aggies by a tally of 18-6 in those matches.
- UC Davis currently holds a record of 3-2-1 and will be in action tonight at Pacific. The club last hit the pitch on Sunday at Loyola Marymount, falling 1-0 against the Lions. The team is currently in the middle of an eight-match road trip.
- The Aggies finished the 2018 campaign with an 11-4-5 record.
TOBIN'S TEAM:
- 2019 marks the sixth season at the helm in San José for Tobin, who joined the Spartans after spending the previous 27 seasons as the head coach at CSU Bakersfield.
- Tobin is a native of London, England, graduating from Nonington College in 1983.
- His 338 career victories ranks No. 10 in all of Division I among active coaches.
- Postseason success has been a staple of Tobin's time in San José as the Spartans have made the Western Athletic Conference title match in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
- He has continued to turn out some of the top talent in the conference year in and year out, placing a total of 15 players on the All-Western Athletic Conference Team throughout his tenure.
THE STAFF:
- San José State's coaching staff features three men who each saw success in their collegiate playing days at universities throughout the state.
- Jonathan Lester is a Spartan alumnus and ranks No. 4 on the program's all time saves list with a dominant 225 in just three years.
- Jesus Sanchez played for Tobin at CSU Bakersfield, finishing his four seasons there with 16 goals and 27 assists while compiling a record of 40-22-15.
- Nic Ryan rounds out the staff as a volunteer assistant coach. He played collegiately at UC Santa Barbara, reaching the NCAA Tournament three times in four years with the Gauchos.
- Lester is in his third year on staff with the Spartans, while both Sanchez and Ryan came aboard prior to the start of the 2018 season.
FRESH FACES:
- San José State's 2019 roster features 12 newcomers, nine of which are freshmen.
- 10 of the 12 newcomers hail from California, bringing the team's total to 24 in-state products.
BETTER KNOW A SPARTAN:
- SJSU was one of five teams to receive a first-place vote in the WAC Preseason Poll. The defending WAC Championship runner-up finished sixth in the poll of the conference coaches.
- Tobin has taken the program to back-to-back WAC title match appearances. This year's conference tournament is scheduled for November 13-17 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- The San José State squad features a trio of European players in the form of freshman Kasper Poulsgaard, sophomore Finlay Wood and junior Max Allen. Poulsgaard hails from Denmark, while Wood and Allen come to San José from Wales and England, respectively.
- The Spartans will face five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago in 2019, with both Saint Mary's (September 9) and Air Force (October 27) coming to the Spartan Soccer Complex.
- Senior Jeff Dukes has gotten the job done both on the field and in the classroom, earning Academic All-WAC recognition last season. It was the second such award for Dukes in his collegiate career.
- SJSU prepared for the regular season with a pair of serviceable exhibition matches. The club played a 110-minute friendly at California before returning home and defeating Holy Cross.
THIS YEAR'S SLATE:
- Three of San José State's seven non-conference matches will be hosted at the Spartan Soccer Complex.
- The Spartans seven non-conference opponents represent three different conferences (Big West, WCC, Pac-12).
SOCIAL MEDIA: The men's soccer program can be found on both Twitter (@SanJoseStateMS) and Instagram (@sanjosestatems). Be sure to follow for a behind the scenes look at the team.