THE SCHEDULE
San José State heads to Orem to face Utah Valley on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. (MT). The club will then return home for two matches in three days, starting on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. against Incarnate Word and ending Monday at 7:00 p.m. against UNLV.
AN SJSU WIN WOULD (Wednesday)
- Give SJSU its best start through six matches since the 2011 campaign (started 3-1-2)
- Mark the program's third straight victory over Utah Valley
- Be better than a loss
FOLLOW ALONG
Each 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 match live on Twitter, @SanJoseStateMS.
FIRST TOUCHES
- Eight of the 11 starters in SJSU's last match come from Northern California high schools.
- Senior Rudi Castro tops the team in shots (13), points (10) and assists (6).
- The conference table's top six teams at the culmination of regular season play next week will advance to the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas. If all teams are unable to play their full league schedules, a formula that takes winning percentage multiplied by percentage of conference games played will be used to determine both the regular season champion and tournament seeding. If the formula is needed, ties will count as 1/3 of a win towards the team's winning percentage.
CORNER KICKS
- Goalkeeper David Sweeney has been on the pitch for all 490 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).
SWEENEY SELECTED
Sophomore goalkeeper David Sweeney is the reigning WAC Defensive Player of the Week after tallying three saves and a clean sheet in Friday's 4-0 victory at California Baptist. This marks the second weekly honor of Sweeney's career and the second for the Spartans this season. In addition, this marks the first season since 2017 that the program has earned multiple weekly awards from the conference office in the same year (David Heredia and Andy Rios).
HAT TIP FOR A HAT TRICK
Senior Willy Miranda completed the program's first hat trick since Sept. 4, 2015 (Rory Knibbs vs. Sacramento State) with his three-goal outing against California Baptist on Friday.
SOME HISTORICAL GOAL DIFFERENTIAL
Wins four-plus goals don't come around very often. Friday's 4-0 victory at California Baptist is just the program's fifth in the last 18 years against Division I opponents (and the only one in that stretch away from home).
Season / Opponent / Result
2020-21 / at California Baptist / W, 4-0
2019 / vs. Kansas City / W, 6-0
2015 / vs. Grand Canyon / W, 6-0
2007 / vs. Charleston / W, 4-0
2003 / vs. Sacramento State / W, 6-1
RUDI, RUDI, RUDI
After leading the team in goals in his first year with the Spartans, senior Rudi Castro has dished out six assists through five matches to start the 2020-21 campaign. That has the San José native ranked third nationally in assists per match as the month of March comes to a close. In addition, SJSU is ranked No. 3 nationally as a team in assists per match.
Rank Player Assists Per Match
1st Noah Jensen (Oakland) 1.38
2nd Brage Aasen (Quinnipiac) 1.33
3rd Rudi Castro (San José State) 1.20
ROAD WARRIORS
Undaunted by recent road trips, San José State has earned a result in five of its last six away matches.
ABOUT THOSE TIES
The team's back-to-back draws against Houston Baptist and UTRGV marked the program's first set of two straight ties since the 2011 campaign (1-1 at UC Riverside and 1-1 vs. Santa Clara).
SHOOTERS SHOOT
The 30 shots attempted by the Spartans at Houston Baptist earlier this month mark the program's most in a single match since Sept. 18, 2008 (32 in 2-2 draw vs. Cal Poly). The shot total is the most for any WAC team this season and the sixth-most in all of Division I. In matches against D-I opponents, the 30 shot attempts rank No. 2 nationally (Northern Illinois – 31 vs. Chicago State).
COMEBACK KIDS
San José State has earned a result coming from behind in the second half in three of its five matches this season.
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).