San José, Calif. – Fresh off its best season in 21 years, the San José State men's soccer team will open the 2021 regular season against a familiar foe on Aug. 26 at CSU Bakersfield.
The 18-match schedule is highlighted by three contests against NCAA qualifiers from a season ago (at Stanford, at Air Force, vs. Grand Canyon) and will feature eight fixtures in front of supporters at Spartan Soccer Complex for the first time in 23 months.
"We have put together another strong slate of matches for the upcoming season," says head coach Simon Tobin. "Coming off such a strong season, we are looking forward to building on that momentum and a return to playing in front of our fantastic fans."
After opening the season in Bakersfield, the Spartans will host their home opener on Sept. 2 against Sacramento State at 7:00 p.m. The tilt kicks off a two-match homestand against Big Sky opponents as UC Davis will come calling for a 3:00 p.m. start on Sept. 2.
A Bay Area road trip follows as SJSU heads to Stanford on Sept. 11 and Saint Mary's two days later. The Cardinal finished the 2020-21 season with a 10-3-1 record and advanced to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament while the Gales ended the year at 6-2-1.
Rounding out the team's strong non-conference slate is a home match against UC San Diego (14-6 in its last season of play) on Sept. 16 and a trip to Stockton to face Pacific on Sept. 19.
The Western Athletic Conference slate starts with a road trip to conference champion Air Force on Sept. 25. San José State will also take trips to Utah Valley, California Baptist, UTRGV, Incarnate Word and Seattle U. inside WAC play.
Tobin's team will face Dixie State in its conference home opener on Oct. 1, marking the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Spartans in San José. UNLV, defending WAC regular season champion Grand Canyon, Chicago State and Houston Baptist will also visit Spartan Soccer Complex throughout the conference season.
The WAC Tournament is scheduled to start on Nov. 9 in Phoenix. SJSU has qualified for the conference tournament in each of the past four seasons.
Prior to the start of the regular season, San José State will play in a pair of exhibition matches to prepare for the 2021 campaign. The first will be against California on Aug. 15 at Spartan Soccer Complex before heading to San Francisco to face the Dons on Aug. 18.
The remaining kickoff times and television designations will be announced at a later date. San José State is coming off a 5-1-3 record on the 2020-21 campaign and carries an active seven-match unbeaten streak into the 2021 season.