THE SCHEDULE
San José State will look to return to its winning ways when it meets Houston Baptist in the Lone Star State on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. (CT) at Sorrels Field.
AN SJSU WIN WOULD
- Give SJSU its best start through three matches since the 2010 campaign (beat UC Riverside and Cal State Monterey Bay)
- Mark the program's fourth result in its last five away matches
- Be better than a loss
FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday's match will be televised on the WAC Digital Network. Live stats will be available and you can follow every San José State men's soccer game live on Twitter, @SanJoseStateMS.
FIRST TOUCHES
- This will be the 11th meeting all-time between San José State and Houston Baptist.
- Nine of the 11 starters in SJSU's last match hail from Northern California.
- Senior Nicolas Brenes tops the team in shots (6), shots on goal (5), points (5) and goals (2). Brenes was named the San José State Student-Athlete of the Month for the month of February.
CORNER KICKS
- Four Spartans - Rudi Castro, Carlos Gomez-Zavala, Kasper Poulsgaard, David Sweeney - have been on the pitch for all 180 minutes this season.
- San José State has advanced to the postseason in each of the last three seasons (have qualified for the WAC title match in two of those trips).
- Seven newcomers have been added to the roster for the 2020-21 campaign. The group consists of a trio of forwards, two defenders, one midfielder and one goalkeeper.
RPI/SOS UPDATE
The Spartans enter the week ranked inside the top-40 nationally in RPI at No. 39. They are also near the top of the country's strength of schedule metrics at No. 25.
RUDI, RUDI, RUDI
After leading the team in goals in his first year with the Spartans, senior Rudi Castro has dished out four assists through two matches to start the 2020-21 campaign. That has the San José native tied for first nationally in assists per match as the calendar turns to March.
Rank Player Assists Per Match
T-1st Rudi Castro (San José State) 2.0
T-1st Toluwalase Oladeinbo (Dayton) 2.0
3rd Noah Jensen (Oakland) 1.17
CALL IT A COMEBACK
Last month's victory at Dixie State marked the program's first win in regulation when trailing in the 79th minute or later since Sept. 26, 2010 (trailed San Francisco 0-1 in 87th minute - won 2-1).
ROAD WARRIORS
Undaunted by recent road trips, San José State has now earned a result in three of its last four away matches. This week's match in Houston kicks off a stretch of three away contests in the team's next four matches.
SENIORITIS
SJSU returns to the pitch this season with one of the nation's most experienced rosters. The Spartans boast 12 seniors on this year's side, which is the second-most in all of Division I soccer (Cal Poly - 15).
GO, GO USA
In one of the final international sporting events held before the world shut down in the spring of 2020, senior Eduardo Buenfil was called up to the U.S. Futsal Men's National Team last March. Competing in the Futsal Week Winter Cup, Buenfil tallied four goals to help lead the United States to a third-place finish in the tournament.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
- Saturday's match will mark the 11th meeting between the two programs. The Spartans lead the all-time series 5-4-1.
- Huskies head coach Ryan Pratt is in his fourth season at the helm in Houston. HBU went 7-11 in 2019 and qualified for the WAC Tournament (lost to host Air Force in the first round).
- Houston Baptist currently holds a record of 0-4-1, most recently falling 1-0 at UNLV on Friday.
TOBIN'S TEAM
- 2020-21 marks the seventh 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 343 career victories entering the 2020-21 season ranked No. 10 in all of Division I among active coaches.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The men's soccer program can be found on both Twitter (@SanJoseStateMS) and Instagram (@sanjosestatems).