Spartans Kick Off 2023 Season at CSU Bakersfield, UC San DiegoSpartans Kick Off 2023 Season at CSU Bakersfield, UC San Diego

Spartans Kick Off 2023 Season at CSU Bakersfield, UC San Diego

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San José State men's soccer team will open the 2023 season on the road against CSU Bakersfield and UC San Diego. The Spartans, who were runners-up in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2022, will take on the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners in Bakersfield, Calif. at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24. They will wrap up the week with a showdown against the UC San Diego Tritons on Saturday, Aug. 26 in San Diego at 7 p.m. Watch both contests on ESPN+.

  • The Spartans are coming off a 2023 season in which they finished second in the WAC regular season and reached the WAC Championship Match where they lost in penalty kicks.
  • Five Spartans who were named to All-WAC teams in 2022 will return for SJSU this season: Beau Leroux (first team), David Sweeney (second team), Kasper Poulsgaard (second team), Gaku Nishimura (all-freshman team), and Riccardo Scarafia (all-freshman team).
  • The Spartans were picked to repeat as runners-up in this year's WAC Men's Soccer Coaches' Poll.
  • Sweeney was voted the conference's Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year while Poulsgaard, Leroux and Joel Garcia joined the Spartans' goalkeeper on the 2023 Preseason All-WAC team.

WHAT'S NEW

RECORD WATCH

  • Sweeney begins the season in a tie for fifth for most career saves by a Spartans' goalkeeper. He and Joe Gangale (1985-86) have each recorded 219 stops. Sweeney is six saves away from tying Jonathan Lester (2009-11) for fourth at 225 and is 34 saves shy of Keith Bateman's (1992-95) record of 253.
  • Sweeney has recorded the third-most shutouts in Spartans' history with 17. He is one shutout away from tying Chris Humphreys (1997-2000) and Gary St. Clair (1970-74) who have each recorded 18 clean sheets.

VS. CSU BAKERSFIELD

  • In 2022, the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners played to a conference record of 0-8-1 in the Big West and an overall record of 2-13-2.
  • The Spartans won 2-0 over the Roadrunners on August 25, 2022
  • Poulsgaard and Garcia scored the goals for the Spartans while Angel Iniguez and Josh Redfield picked up the assists.
  • The Spartans hold a 13-8-1 all-time record against the Roadrunners.

VS. UC SAN DIEGO

  • In 2022, the UC San Diego Tritons finished the year with a conference record of 4-5-0 in the Big West and an overall record of 8-8-2.
  • The Spartans are 0-1-0 all-time against the Tritons. They lost 2-0 against the Tritons on Sept. 16, 2021.

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