Men's Soccer Opens 2024 Season in La Jolla - UC San Diego (2024)

Arwyn Guinto/UC San Diego

Men's Soccer 8/20/2024 3:27:00 PM

LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego men's soccer begins the 2024 season at home hosting Santa Clara University on Thursday, Aug. 22 at 7 pm followed by another home match vs. No. 20 Duke on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 6 pm.

This is the fourth time the Tritons and Broncos have met in preseason play with the current record being 1-1-1. Santa Clara was picked to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll despite coming off a championship season in which they earned their 14th conference title. The Broncos return 14 of those conference champions with 15 newcomers. Of those incoming, five are transfers from Fordham, Spain, West Alabama, Washington, and Stanislaus State. Santa Clara enters the week after playing one exhibition game against Saint Mary's.

UC San Diego will be the second UC to play Duke in their history and the first-time meeting for the two squads. The Blue Devils were picked to finish 7th out of the 15 ACC squads in the conference preseason poll with senior midfielder Ruben Mesalles named to the preseason watch list. Duke won two of their three exhibitions with a notable 3-1 win over No. 16 Georgetown on Aug. 16. Before traveling to La Jolla, the Blue Devils will face off vs. University of San Diego on Thursday, Aug. 22.

The Tritons enter the week after playing two exhibition matches against neighbor San Diego State and UNLV. UC San Diego was picked to finish eighth in the Big West coaches' preseason poll with UC Irvine named the conference favorite. The 2024 season will mark the Tritons first year of postseason eligibility after successfully completing the NCAA mandated transition. The gold and blue return 18 veterans and add 13 newcomers, including five transfers.

MATCH INFO
Match 1
UC San Diego vs. Santa Clara University
Thursday, August 22
7 p.m. PST
Triton Soccer Stadium
Watch|Live Stats
Series: 1-1-1

Match 2
UC San Diego vs. No. 20 Duke University
Sunday, August 25
6 p.m. PST
Triton Soccer Stadium
Watch|Live Stats
Series: First time meeting

ABOUT THE TRITONS
Roster|Schedule|Stats
Overall: 0-0
2023 Big West: 3-5-1
Home: 0-0
Away: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0-0
Ranked: 0-0

ATTENDING THE MATCHES
Admission to UC San Diego home soccer matches is free, but parking permits are required seven days per week on campus. For UC San DiegoParkinginformation,click here.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will take a quick trip to Orem, Utah to face Utah Valley for a 6 pm PST matchup on Thursday, Aug. 29.

VETERAN PRESCENCE
18 Tritons return to UC San Diego: 6 seniors, 3 juniors, 3 redshirt sophom*ores, and 6 redshirt freshmen.

NEWFACES
The Tritons added 13 newcomers: 5 transfers and 8 freshmen.
Cole Barrett
Nolan Premack
Adam Hillis
Bryce Barnum
Mhone Bogonko

Ryan Namdar
Nikita Stukanov
Anthony Bugliari
Nick Aghaian
Tyler Cash
Kai Oppenheim
Michael Luechauer
Woody Brown

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MEDIA DAY

Picture Day 2024 ? #VamosTritones pic.twitter.com/MrMco9O9TW

See Also

Men's Soccer Gets Underway at No. 4 Oregon State - UCI AthleticsMen’s Soccer Set to Open 2024 Season at UC Santa Barbara - Missouri StateWCC 2024-25 Power Rankings: Gonzaga leads the pack, will anyone catch up?Men’s Soccer to Play for Championship

— UC San Diego Men's Soccer (@ucsdmsoc) August 20, 2024

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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successfulprograms inNCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as amember of The Big West inNCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in DivisionsIIand III and helped guide1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.