Dec. 16, 2003
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The San Diego State women's soccer team's turnaround during the 2003 season can easily be defined by two key performances against a pair of 12th-ranked squads.
Just two days after a lackluster 2-0 loss to UC Riverside, the Aztecs were set to face No. 12 Arizona State at the SDSU Sports Deck. A second-half Sun Devil goal however did not dampen the Aztec spirits, which were rewarded with an 87th-minute goal by senior forward Kim Castellanos. SDSU out-shot Arizona State, 19-14, in the 1-1 double-overtime tie, no doubt earning the respect of the highly-ranked Sun Devils. Arizona State would later advance to the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
Two days later, the Aztecs would win a hard-fought road game with a clutch overtime goal by Castellanos to defeat San Francisco. Her goal was the only one of the game and the overtime match would be one of a school-record five SDSU would play.
But neither of those results would prove to be the highlight of the season-that would come on Oct. 16. The opponent was rival Brigham Young, whom the Aztecs had not defeated in six meetings over four seasons. The Cougars entered the game ranked No. 12 and would later advance all the way to the NCAA quarterfinals.
The teams battled it out, mostly on the defensive end, for two hours with the lone difference between the teams being a head flick from junior defender Noelle Jouglet. She received a free kick from defender Shannon McBride from 35 yards and headed it into the net for the biggest goal of the season.
Almost more impressive was that the SDSU defense held BYU to only 10 shots, which would prove to be the Cougars' third lowest of the season. The Cougars previous lows (8) were against No. 2 Florida in a 3-2 overtime loss on Sept. 26 and Mountain West Conference champion and No. 14 Utah on Nov. 1.
Two days later, the Aztecs would hold strong with Utah, only being out-shot 12-8, but fell 2-0.
The Aztecs' excellent defense throughout the season allowed the team to earn seven shutouts (most since 1999) and allow senior goalkeeper Stephanie Pearson to finish tied for third in the MWC in that category. The team also recorded numerous scoreless streaks reaching as high as 299:54, the team's longest since 1998. Unfortunately the offense would not produce as well, scoring only one goal in its final four regular season games.
SDSU did not have a lack of scoring opportunities. The team had games like the Oct. 12 match with Wyoming in which the team recorded the most shots since the second game of the 2001 season, a span of 49 games, and out-shot the Cowgirls, 25-14, but Wyoming won the game, 3-1. The Aztecs also had an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks, the first time SDSU had not allowed a corner kick since the 2002 season-opener.
With its solid defense continuously keeping SDSU in games, the Aztecs still had promise of a possible run through the MWC Tournament. The Aztecs headed to snowy Salt Lake City to face UNLV in the quarterfinal round, a team that it had out-shot, 17-14, just four days previous, but failed to defeat, falling, 1-0.
In frigid 30-degree weather with snow covering the vast majority of the seats, the Aztecs headed into halftime with a strong 6-1 shot advantage, but trailed, 1-0. Three of those shots missed the goal by five yards or less. After a couple of early second-half near-misses, one shot that just missed the post and another that ricocheted off the post, UNLV took a 2-0 lead on only their third shot of the game.
SDSU junior midfielder Jessica Korpela finally drove the ball into the back of the net at the 72:23 mark to draw the Aztecs within one, 2-1. After a couple more good SDSU shots, one saved and one just missing the net, the teams played out the final 4:21 without a shot by either squad. The Aztecs out-shot UNLV, 12-4, and had six corner kicks to none for the Rebels, the second time the SDSU defense had not allowed a corner kick in 2003.
The defensive strength of the team was acknowledged when the MWC announced that sophomore defenders Alexis Solovij and Amanda Swiader were named to the all-MWC team (Solovij to the first team and Swiader to the second).
Senior defender Annette Shinn was named to the 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII team. A second-team honoree, the biology major has a 3.69 GPA.
The offense was led by Castellanos, who, despite only playing in 14 of the team's 19 games due to an ankle sprain, scored six goals and had an assist for 19 points. Senior forward Becky Prilaman scored two goals and added an assist for five points, while sophomore forward Lisette Martinez recorded a goal and four assists for six points. Junior forward Courtney Burns also tallied a pair of goals.
The team was also hampered by injuries to three other key players. Freshman midfielder Taviana Shabestari and Jouglet missed the MWC Tournament due to ankle sprains after playing in all 18 regular season games. Jouglet also had limited action the final weeks of the season due to her injury. Sophomore defender Erica Lopez suffered a broken hand during the MWC Tournament.
The Aztecs received four MWC offensive player of the week awards along with one defensive player of the week honor. Pearson and Martinez were named defensive and offensive players of the week on Sept. 22 after Pearson recorded two shutouts that week and Martinez contributed assists on three of the four SDSU goals against Southern Utah and Weber State.
On Sept. 29, Martinez earned the award for the second consecutive week, becoming the first player to do so in MWC history and only the second to be named twice in one season. She scored a goal and recorded an assist in SDSU's 3-1 victory over Nevada on Sept. 26.
Castellanos garnered the honor on Oct. 6, marking the first time a school earned player of the week honors three straight weeks. Castellanos earned the award for tying Arizona State with a late goal and scoring the overtime game-winner against San Francisco.
Jouglet would be the final honoree on Oct. 20 for her goal against the Cougars.
The Aztecs completed 2003 with a 7-10-2 record, 2-3-1 in MWC play, good for fourth place in the seven-team league.