By Gabriel Luis (@gabelun):
Coming off of a 1-0 victory against Houston Baptist, San Jose State Men’s soccer team (3-9-1, 1-3-1 WAC) will be taking on University of the Incarnate Word (3-9-1, 1-5-0 WAC) on Friday.
San Jose State is currently in 10th place in the Western Athletic Conference, only sitting atop Incarnate Word. Looking at this match, the Spartans have a good opportunity to beat the Cardinals, however will always be facing the challenge of playing away from home.
In last week’s away game against Houston Baptist, the only goal of the game came from senior defender Carlos Valdovinos, who continues to prove his value to coach Tobin’s roster.
In the 2016 season, San Jose State lost to Incarnate Word 4-1 at home and history seems to have an opportunity to repeat itself.
Last year’s match against Incarnate Word was over from the beginning as UIW took the lead in the 16th minute, and held that throughout the rest of the match.
This year so far, senior forward Jeremy Romero, junior defender Andy Rios, and Valdovinos have been key to the team’s success on the pitch, regardless of the team’s inability to convert goals.
The tree are the only players on the Spartans roster that have scored more than one goal this season and all players have played more than 600 minutes so far.
The game against Incarnate Word will be SJSU’s second of three matches in Texas, and just might provide the Spartans with what they need to succeed for the rest of the season.
San Jose State has struggled to find the back on the net so far scoring no more than two goals in a game during conference play.
As long as the Spartans maintain their composure and play their style of soccer, they have a strong possibility to get a positive result.
Kickoff is set at 5 p.m.
