By Derrick Ow — Reporter
It has been 14 long months since the San Jose State men’s soccer team has played at home.
SJSU will finally have their home opener at the Spartan Sports Complex when they welcome Grand Canyon University on Saturday. It will be the ninth meeting between the two teams. SJSU leads the overall series at 4-2-2.
The Spartans (1-0) started off their 2021 campaign with a bang in St. George, Utah. They needed some late magic heroics as they defeated Dixie State 2-1 on Feb. 20.
Jamal Adam and Nicolas Brenes scored both goals giving the team their third straight season opening win.
Here are some things to keep an eye out for.
Castro gets the hardware
Rudi Castro was Mr. Everything last weekend. The senior forward was named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
The San Jose native had two assists in the win vs the Trailblazers (0-2). He also had two shots on goal as he sparked the Spartan offensive attack.
Castro became the first Spartan to receive the honor since Rory Knibbs in 2015. He also was the first Spartan to have a multi-assist game since Max Allen did it last season.
Trying to remain undefeated
The last time the Spartans were undefeated was when the San Francisco Giants dynasty just got started.
They are looking to go to 2-0 for the first time since the 2010 season. If they want to achieve that mark, they will need to score first and play disciplined soccer. The Spartans had seven fouls in a physical game against Dixie State.
An insight into the Grand Canyon’s season.
The Lopes (1-0) have extra motivation to win the conference this season.
Head coach Schellas Hyndman will be retiring at the end of the season. He has won 504 games in his 37 year career which is second among active Division I coaches.
The Lopes offense runs through senior midfielder Justin Rasmussen. He was the team leader in goals last year with six. He also had an assist on Feb. 20 in their season opening 2-1 win against Houston Baptist.
Maximilian Moeller and Rey Gaytan both scored for GCU. The Lopes had an astonishing 23 shots on goal which is something the Spartans have to limit Saturday.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Spartan Soccer Complex.
Follow Derrick on Twitter @derrickq42