MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Men's Soccer finishes their season-opening home stand against San Jose State this Friday, before playing their first road match of the season at UC Irvine on Monday.
 
The Gaels are 15-17-2 all time against San Jose State, including a 4-0 win over the Spartans in San Jose last September 8. Saint Mary's is 9-3-1 in their history against the Anteaters, after defeating them 3-1 in Irvine, Calif. last season.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (2-1-1) vs San Jose State (1-1-2)
Friday, September 8 at 5:00 pm
Saint Mary's Stadium – Moraga, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Saint Mary's (2-1-1) at UC Irvine (3-0-1)
Monday, September 11 at 6:00 pm
Anteater Stadium – Irvine, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats | Tickets
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels went 1-0-1 this past week, netting a come-from-behind win in the 88th minute over Dartmouth of the Ivy League and playing to a scoreless draw versus FDU.
 
It was the Gaels first ever meeting with the Big Green from the Ivy League, but the match felt like an old rivalry, with a fast pace and plenty of physicality. Trailing 1-0 at the break, Saint Mary's would come out in high gear in the second half on their way to a season-high, 12-shot half with seven of those shots on frame. Tyler Hardin's first career brace would be the difference, scoring the equalizer in the 48th minute and the winner in the 88th.
 
Against FDU the Gaels outshot the Knights 23-7 overall and 5-0 in shots on frame, along with a 60 to 40 percent advantage in possession time. Saint Mary's forced FDU's keeper and defenders to make some spectacular plays to keep the Gaels off the board, but there were moments of hesitation on pulling the trigger on a shot that allowed the Knights to recover and force a more difficult shot for the Gaels leading to the scoreless draw.
 
ABOUT SAN JOSE STATE
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 to Cal Baptist.
 
Five Spartans who were named to All-WAC teams in 2022 will return for SJSU this season in Beau Leroux (first team), David Sweeney (second team), Kasper Poulsgaard (second team), Gaku Nishimura (all-freshman team), and Riccardo Scarafia (all-freshman team).
 
SJSU was picked to finish second 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.
 
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.
 
ABOUT UC IRVINE
The Anteaters are coached by Yossi Raz and have four-straight, top-three finishes in the Big West. They've also appeared in the Big West semifinal or final in three of the last four tournaments, including last season.
 
UC Irvine is unbeaten going into its Friday match up with No. 1 Stanford. They feature a strong sophomore class, with Agaton Pourshahidi making All-Big West as freshmen. Nolan DiCenzo played a critical role on the backline down the season's stretch run and scoring a game-winner last season as well.
 
CLICK HERE to purchase Saint Mary's Men's Soccer tickets for the 2023 season.
 
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