By Ethan Ndachi (@EthanNdachi) – Content Editor | SJSU men’s soccer kickoff against the University of Pacific on Sept. 10 (Photo by Marco Munoz-Rodriguez – Spear photographer)
San Jose State men’s soccer will commence its inaugural season in the Mountain West Conference on Saturday against the University of California, Davis.
SJSU’s nonconference record reflects the state of the team after a 3-4-1 start to the season. But SJSU interim head coach Jesus “Chuy” Sanchez feels his group got what they needed from a challenging non-conference schedule.
“It was going to be a challenge to be able to incorporate eight new starters into the starting lineup,” Sanchez said. “We got the experience that we wanted to get out of it, some tough away games, some really good opposition and throughout it all I think we made constant improvements, which was really the goal.”
SJSU struggled over the last month to find consistency as a team. In some performances, the Spartans looked disorganized at the back, allowing careless mistakes that led to unnecessary moments of peril.
In other matches, SJSU peppered the opposition with shots but was unable to actually put them away. Rarely this season has the team put defensive stability and clinicality together.
With the departure of the entire core of the 2025 squad that reached the conference final last year, it remained to be seen which players would step up and perform for the Spartans this season.
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Ronin Axelson has had a busy nonconference season, recording 36 saves in eight appearances. His efforts earned him Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week this past Monday, and the Fairfax native looks to build harmony with the defensive unit ahead of him.
“If you look at my statistics, it’s a lot of saves per game averaging,” Axelson said. “The defense will start to work off me as well, they’re gonna learn saves that I can make and saves that I can’t, and I think if they can compensate then we’ll be really strong.”
Junior midfielder Daniel Fregoso Bautista has also been one of the Spartans ‘ bright spots as the season settled. Fregoso Bautista mainly operated on the right wing last season but has moved to attacking midfield this season, allowing him to get more involved in offense.
“Even when I was playing winger, the coach would want me to come in as another midfielder so I was already kind of used to it,” Fregoso Bautista said. “It’s natural for me. I like being in the middle, I like getting in the pockets, I like turning, trying to be in positions to score.”
Fregoso Bautista recorded 2 goals and 4 assists in nonconference play and leads the team with 8 points. Sophomore forward Amir Anwary and junior winger Jordi Tortell Daly follow close behind with 6 and 5 points, respectively. Junior defender and captain Cameron Cook also has 5 points with 1 goal and 3 assists this season.
The Mountain West Conference is made up of a smaller contingent of teams from the former Western Athletic Conference. SJSU will face Grand Canyon University (3-5-0), UC Davis (0-5-3), Utah Tech (1-6-1), UNLV (4-2-2) and the Air Force Academy (1-3-3).
The Spartans’ marquee matchup undoubtedly will be against GCU, playing away in Arizona on Oct. 4 and at the Spartan Soccer Complex on Oct. 28. SJSU will look to seek revenge for the 2025 WAC championship final against the co-conference favorites.
The conference appears open for any school to steal. No team in the Mountain West has found blazing form in nonconference play, which means, in theory, teams that string together consistency could have an opportunity to end up on the podium in November.
This year, teams will play each other home and away, allowing teams to showcase their quality more accurately in the standings over 10 conference games.
“I think that structure, that setup is fair because it really challenges you to perform at a high level regardless if you’re home or away. So we’re excited for it and obviously being the first year of the Mountain West there’s a little bit of history to be read in there,” Sanchez said.
SJSU begins its first Mountain West soccer campaign against UC Davis at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Spartan Soccer Complex, San Jose, Calif.
