Sept. 13, 2004
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's soccer team earned a 2-0 triumph over Southern Utah at the SDSU Sports Deck on Monday afternoon. The Aztecs posted their second shutout of the season and improve to 2-3-1 with the victory. The Thunderbirds fell to 1-5-0.
SDSU pressured Southern Utah from the start and just three minutes into the game, the Aztecs had a good chance to score. Senior Shannon McBride's shot from 25 yards out hit the crossbar and freshman Tiphanie Elliott's rebound attempt went wide right.
SDSU's persistence paid off when junior Alexis Solovij took advantage of a misplay by a Thunderbird defender at the 38:24 mark and found herself alone on a breakaway. Solovij beat Southern Utah goalkeeper Megan Flowers on a shot from 10 yards away into the right corner of the net for her first goal of the season.
The Aztecs, who outshot the Thunderbirds in the first half, 10-2, went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Three minutes into the second half, Solovij tallied her second goal of the game when she took a cross from sophomore Jen Klunder and knocked it into the right corner from 15 yards away.
The two-goal performance by Solovij marked the first time an Aztec has scored twice in a game since Sept. 4, 2003, when Kim Castellanos had two goals in a 2-0 shutout against Long Beach State.
Senior goalkeeper Sophia Perez made three saves to earn her second shutout of the season. In five starts this season, Perez has a 0.58 goals against average. The Aztec single-season record for goals against average is 0.61 set by Katherine Judkins in 1998.
SDSU outshot Southern Utah, 18-6, for the match, including 7-3 on goal.
"It's always nice to get a win," said first-year head coach Mike Giuliano. "We really picked it up at the end of the game and we are looking forward to competing against two quality opponents this weekend (Oklahoma and Dartmouth)."
The Aztecs travel to Tempe, Ariz., for games against Oklahoma and Dartmouth. SDSU faces the Sooners at 4:30 p.m. (MST) on Sept. 17 and the Big Green at 10 a.m. (MST) on Sept. 19. The Aztecs' next home game will be Oct. 3 against Washington at 1 p.m. (PST.) at the SDSU Sports Deck.