San Diego State Is Fielding Quite a Collection : Aztecs, Ranked No. 8 in Country, Are Looking for NCAA Soccer Playoff Berth

San Diego State’s soccer team is an odd collection of players who have come together successfully this season.

The starting goalie got hurt 10 games into the season and won’t be back. His replacement, a third-stringer last season, has taken charge.

Last season’s leading scorer for Indiana, one of the country’s best teams last year, is playing defense for the Aztecs.

Another guy played third base for the Aztecs’ baseball team last season.

Chaos? Hardly.

San Diego State is having one of its finest seasons in years. The Aztecs are 15-4 and ranked No. 8 in the country. A victory over 15th-ranked UCLA tonight at 7:30 at the Aztec Bowl will bring the Aztecs closer to their first NCAA playoff berth since 1982.

“Before this season, I was very worried about our defense,” SDSU Coach Chuck Clegg said. “We didn’t have anybody back and we had a new goalkeeper. Any time you’re worried about your defense, you’re going to be worried about your team.”

Clegg had to be worrying more when Felipe Hernandez, the new goalkeeper, broke his left leg in practice, a day before the 11th game of the season. But enter sophomore goalkeeper Bryan Finnerty who has allowed just two goals in his first seven games--a goals-against average of 0.29 in seven Aztec victories.

“It’s only natural that when your starting goalkeeper goes down, you’re going to try and play better to protect him,” said Brad Walsh, the Aztecs’ sophomore center back. “Once he came up with a couple of shutouts, we had more and more confidence in him.”

And now Finnerty has confidence in his defense. And so does Clegg.

That’s because Chris Keenan, Indiana University’s top scorer last year--he transferred to SDSU because of philosophical differences with Coach Jerry Yeagley--was willing to make the switch from goal scorer to goal stopper early this season. As the Aztecs’ sweeper, Keenan is the last player opposing offenses must beat before getting at Finnerty.

“Chris moving to sweeper is probably the one thing that really got us turned around,” said Clegg, referring to the team’s 2-2 start. “He said he’d do anything to help the team and he’s doing that.”

There are others on defense who have contributed to the Aztecs’ 12 shutouts, a team record.

Walsh has been solid at center back--he marks the opposition’s center forward--and has been helped by Pat Henderson and Tim Parker. Last year, Henderson was a midfielder and Parker was a reserve.

The defense has allowed 15 goals allowed in 19 games this season.

“Pretty amazing,” Walsh said.

Curt Lewis agreed. Lewis used to play Aztec baseball but he’s red-shirting this season, and concentrating on soccer.

Lewis started the season as sweeper, but the position didn’t fit his style of play. When Keenan volunteered to take over, Lewis moved back to center half, where he played last year.

“Truthfully, looking back at the beginning of the season, it was hard for me to imagine we’d be this good,” Lewis said. “We had a lot of new guys who came in and really didn’t work out. But the players we have in there now are all doing the job.”

Lewis is second on the team with seven goals and with fellow midfielder Eric Drabb is tied for the team lead with nine assists. Gerardo Jimenez, the right forward wing, has six goals, and freshman Eric Wynalda, the left forward wing, is tied with Drabb for the assist lead. All but two starters have scored at least one goal, and the Aztecs have scored in 40 consecutive games, a streak that stretches back to 1985.

“The thing this year is that it always seems like we have somebody different picking us up,” Clegg said. “We don’t have to rely on anyone to have a big game. It’s somebody new each game.”

And when it’s not somebody new, it’s Kyle Whittemore, the acclaimed centerpiece of the team. The junior center forward has scored 54 goals in three years and by the end of this season could break Micael Holmstedt’s Aztec career record of 57 goals set in four years (1979-82).

Furthermore, when Whittemore plays, the Aztecs usually win. In 1984, his freshman season, San Diego State was 14-6. In 1985, Whittemore sat out with an injury, and the Aztecs were 8-8-4. Last year, they were 14-3-4, and this year, 15-4. That’s 43-13-4 with Whittemore.

“All I’m trying to do now is find another Kyle,” Clegg said.

It probably won’t be easy. In the last couple of years, Whittemore has improved on his game, coming back to work hard on defense to compliment his scoring capability.

“That’s made him a much better player,” Clegg said.

And the team is much better.