After dropping their first two matches of the season by one goal margins the San Diego State Men’s Soccer Team has roared back to go five consecutive games without a loss. In that span the Aztecs have defeated sixth ranked Santa Barbara, and highly-touted Princeton and Wisconsin. This week they Aztecs will travel to Washington and Oregon State before returning home for a three-game homestand that opens with UCLA on Friday October 11 and includes Stanford and California.

 Aztecs coach Lev Kirshner has assembled a star-studded lineup that includes preseason All-American defender Nick Cardenas and seven players with local ties. His biggest acquisition this off-season was Parade All-American forward and midfielder Jose Altamirano out of Southwest High.

 “Jose is just now coming into his own and feeling comfortable with this team. He adds the dimension of being able to stay calm. He is good at distributing the ball and knows how to find the open spaces when the game is at its most stressful point. We have some very skillful players on this team and he is one of them. In training and in games he does some things that not a lot of other people can do. We are pleased to have him,” said assistant coach, Sami Nedjar.

 Altamirano, the son of Mexican immigrants, has overcome a lot of obstacles to get to where he is. He grew up never knowing his father. His mother had to work two jobs just to keep their heads above water. He hopes to one day be in the position to pay back the many sacrifices his mother has made on his behalf.

 As you might expect, being a Parade All-American Altamirano had numerous offers to play soccer elsewhere, but he preferred to stay close to home and try to make San Diego State’s already solid team that much better.

 “They didn’t take it easy on me when I arrived here just because of my background. They just looked at me as another player and I liked that. I don’t want to be looked at as someone special. I am just a normal player. They treated me like family.”

 Altamirano was especially impressed with Kirshner.

 “I like the soccer being played here and I like the coach. I like it when they take me to my limit and push me to go a little bit farther. I’m learning a lot here. I used to play both midfield in forward in high school, but here they have been using me more lately in the midfield.”

 While he is finding it a challenge, Altamirano is adjusting to college life.

 “Here, they offer you a lot of help with your classes. The biggest difference is in my lifestyle. I lived with my mom when I was going to Southwest and here I am living on campus, but I have gotten used to that quickly. That’s going great.”

 So is his new team after getting off to a slow start.

 “This team could go really far. We just have to put our minds to it. We just knocked off one of the toughest teams in America (by beating San Barbara 4-2) and we beat Princeton 1-0 today, so I think we can go pretty far.”