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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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