All starts tomorrow!
— San José State Men's Soccer (@SanJoseStateMS) August 23, 2023
Hear from @simontobin7 ahead of the season opener at CSU Bakersfield tomorrow night ⬇️
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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
- The Spartans have five freshmen on their 2023 roster: Jesus Carrillo-Lorenzo Jr., Angel Fernandez, Ruben Flores-Thomas, Leimana Makasini, and Gilberto Rivera.
- SJSU also has three transfers: Niklas Dossmann, a sophomore defender from the University of Michigan, Kaylob Walker, a junior defender from Fresno City College, and Marcos Mora, a junior midfielder from Phoenix College.
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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