Aug. 16, 2004
SAN DIEGO - Head soccer coaches from the Mountain West Conference have predicted San Diego State to finish third in the league in 2004. The third-place preseason ranking is the highest since the 2001 season, when the Aztecs went on to finish fifth in the MWC with a 2-3-1 record.
Utah was selected to repeat as MWC regular season champion with 35 points. The Utes were followed by BYU (32), SDSU (25), UNLV (21) and Wyoming (14). New Mexico (11) and Air Force (9) rounded out the voting as they were picked to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.
The Aztecs finished 2003 with a 7-10-2 overall record, 2-3-1 in the MWC, good enough for fourth place. SDSU returns 13 letterwinners and eight starters, including junior all-MWC defensive selections Alexis Solovij and Amanda Swiader. Solovij earned first-team honors, while Swiader was named to the second team. Other top returning players for the Aztecs include senior defenders Noelle Jouglet and Shannon McBride, senior midfielders Jess Korpela and Gina Salinas, and junior forward Lisette Martinez.
After opening their season at Oregon State at the end of the month, the Aztecs will make their 2004 home debut on Friday, Sept. 3, when they face Davidson at 1 p.m. at the SDSU Sports Deck. That contest is part of the SDSU Invitational, which will also have the Aztecs facing Navy on Sunday (Sept. 5) at 1:30 p.m.