Sept. 20, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztecs Look To Rebound After Losing Two Straight Overtime Games; Host Pacific, Travel To Long Beach State This Weekend
San Diego State (5-4) will look to get back on the winning track this weekend after losing two consecutive overtime home matches in four days. The Aztecs will host Pacific at 4 p.m. Friday before traveling to Long Beach State for a 1 p.m. Sunday showdown. The two Big West schools will be the fifth and sixth teams, respectively, from the conference that SDSU will face this season.
Last Week With the Aztecs
San Diego State lost two consecutive overtime matches at home last week. The Aztecs fell to Cal State Northridge on Monday by a score of 2-1 (ot) after dropping a 1-0 (ot) decision to George Washington on Friday.
*Devon Nizich took a pass from Brianna Monka midway through the first overtime and drilled the ball into the left corner of the net to give the Cal State Northridge women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over San Diego State Monday at the SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs, who started eight freshmen for the first time this season, lost their second consecutive overtime match in four days.
Unlike last year's meeting in Northridge between the two teams, where a combined five goals were scored on 16 shots in the first half, neither team's offense got going in the first session.
However, SDSU took advantage of its first scoring opportunity at the 25:02 mark when freshman Jen Mello scored her fourth goal of the season.
Classmate Erika Sutton beat a Matador defender on the right side of the field and slid the ball to Mello who one-touched it into the right corner of the net. Sutton was credited with her team-leading fourth assist of the season.
The first half ended with each team tied with two shots apiece and Cal State Northridge owning a 4-1 lead in corner kicks.
There was more action in the second half, as the two team's combined for 13 shots (CSUN 8, SDSU 5) and 10 corner kicks (SDSU 6, CSUN 4). The Matadors had a chance to tie the match in the 77th minute, but Aztec freshman goalkeeper Christi Yount (5-4) stopped Kristy Krohn's breakaway chance and deflected the ball out of harm's way.
Cal State Northridge responded a short time later, however, evening the game at one apiece when Suzie Mischenko took Tryna Tafoya's cross from the right side and knocked it into the left corner in the 80th minute.
The match would stay tied until Nizich's game-winner at the 95:40 mark of the first overtime.
Sophomore Casey Davidson came off the bench and had three shots on goal for SDSU, and Sutton added two attempts. Sophomore Ashley Tenn, Mello and freshman Mariko Strickland also had a shot for the Aztecs, who lost for the first time in 31 tries when scoring the game's first goal.
Yount played all 95:40 for SDSU and made two saves.
*Ina Kain headed in a corner kick from Keara Mehlert 50 seconds into the first overtime to give the George Washington women's soccer team a 1-0 victory over San Diego State at the SDSU Sports Deck on Friday. The goal was one of only four shots in the game for the Colonials and the first attempt in a span of 49 minutes, 33 seconds.
The Aztecs, who had their first loss in an overtime match since Oct. 10, 2003 (eight games) outshot George Washington, 13-4, for the game, including a 5-0 advantage in the second half. SDSU also won the corner kick battle (5-3) and drew 14 Colonial fouls while only committing seven.
Mello had a game-high four shots for SDSU, which started nine underclassmen and seven freshmen. Classmates Alicia Piz, Mariko Strickland and Sutton, and sophomore Jessica Girdner contributed two shots apiece in the losing effort.
Yount (5-3) played all 90:50 and made one save.
A Glance at the Tigers
*Pacific is 5-2-1 this season and is coming off a 1-0, double-overtime victory over Brown on Friday.
Mandi Van Dorn leads the team with nine points on three goals and three assists, while Carla Vellutini (two goals, one assist) and Carmen Padilla (one goal, three assists) each have five points apiece.
Jaime Souza has played 635 minutes in net for Pacific, which is receiving votes in the latest Soccer Buzz regional poll, and is 3-2-1 with a 1.13 GAA. Laura Guerin (147 minutes, 2-0-0, 0.61 GAA) has also seen playing time for the Tigers.
SDSU vs. Pacific
*The Aztecs and Tigers will be meeting for the first time on Friday.
A Glance at the 49ers
*Long Beach State is off to a 5-1-1 start and is coming off a 1-1, double-overtime tie to UNLV on Sunday.
The 49ers' 5-1-0 record before the UNLV game was the best start in the program's history and the six-game unbeaten streak is also a school-best.
Hayley Bolt leads the squad in scoring with four goals and four assists (12 points). Elizabeth Romo (four goals) and Kim Silos (three goals, two assists) are Long Beach State's other top scorers.
Goalkeeper Liz Ramos allowed her first goal in over six matches (474:39), which included five wins and 3.5 shutouts, in the UNLV tie. On the season, Ramos is 5-0-1 with a 90.9 save percentage and a 0.33 GAA.
The 49ers are receiving votes in the latest Soccer Buzz regional poll.
SDSU vs. Long Beach State
*The Aztecs own a 4-0 advantage in the series, including a 2-0 record in Long Beach.
*The two teams last met on Sept. 4, 2003, at the SDSU Sports Deck, which saw SDSU come away with a 2-0 win. The Aztecs outshot the 49ers, 12-3, in a match which saw three current Aztecs - seniors Erica Lopez, Lisette Martinez (two shots on goal) and Amanda Swiader - earn starts. Fellow senior Alexis Solovij (one shot on goal) also saw significant playing time.
*The Aztecs have outscored the 49ers, 9-2 (2.3-0.5), in the series and haven't allowed a goal in their last three meetings.
*SDSU is 33-11-4 (.729) all-time against current Big West Conference opponents and 18-6-2 (.731) against Big West teams in the month of September.
*The Aztecs are 3-1 against Big West teams this season with wins over Cal State Fullerton (2-0, Aug. 26), UC Riverside (1-0, Sept. 9) and UC Irvine (2-0, Sept. 11). Their only blemish is a 2-1 overtime loss to Cal State Northridge.
Aztecs Ranked 14th In West Region
*SDSU slipped three spots to No. 14 in the west region rankings, announced Monday by Soccer Buzz. It is the first time the Aztecs have been ranked in the region in consecutive weeks since 1999.
*SDSU plays four more teams this season who are currently ranked in the region - (rv) Pacific, (rv) Long Beach State, (12) Utah and (6) Brigham Young - after already facing (1) Portland and then No. 14 Cal State Fullerton (now ranked 11th).
*The Aztecs are 2-1 against regionally ranked teams this season with wins against then No. 12 Washington (1-0, Sept. 14) and then No. 14 (Cal State Fullerton (2-0, Aug. 26).
Solovij Named to Soccer Buzz National Elite Team of the Week
*San Diego State senior Alexis Solovij (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos HS) was named to the Soccer Buzz National Elite Team of the Week for the week of Sept. 6-12. Solovij, the 2004 Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, became just the third Aztec to receive the Soccer Buzz honor.
Solovij earned the defensive most valuable player award at the UC Irvine Nike/Holiday Inn Invitational after leading SDSU to consecutive shutouts over UC Riverside (1-0) on Friday and the host Anteaters (2-0) on Sunday. She anchored a defense that allowed only five combined shots, two on goal, in the two games.
Solovij, who has started in 46 consecutive matches, has played every minute this season for the Aztecs and has helped the defense record four shutouts.
Solovij joins current junior Jennifer Klunder (Oct. 20, 2004) and Shawni Flint (Nov. 5, 2002) as the only SDSU players to earn the national honor.
Better Late Then Never
*Through the first nine games, the 2005 Aztecs have been a second half team. SDSU has scored 10 of its 11 goals (90.9 percent) in the second session and has 21 more shots (61-40) than it has in the first half.
*The Aztecs have outscored their opponents, 10-5, in the second half and have outshot the opposition, 61-43, including a 34-11 advantage the last four games.
Youth Is Served
*It's hard to believe that this team is made up mostly of underclassmen and transfers (UAT), but consider this through the first seven games:
*The UAT average 8.1 starts per game (5.7 spg by freshmen)
*The UAT (and freshmen) have played 100 percent (630/630) of the time in goal
*The UAT have scored 90 percent (9/10) of the goals (70 percent (7/10) by freshmen)
*The UAT have had 90 percent (9/10) of the assists (80 percent (8/10) by freshman)
*The UAT have had 90 percent (27/30) of the points (73.3 percent (22/30) by freshman)
*The UAT have taken 87.7 percent (71/81) of the shots (65.4 percent (53/81) by freshmen)
*The UAT have taken 91.7 percent (33/36) of the shots on goal (66.7 percent (24/36) by freshmen)
*The UAT (and freshmen) have scored 100 percent (5/5) of the game-winning goals
The Ball Stops Here
*Freshman Christi Yount is off to an excellent start in her first season on The Mesa. In nine games, Yount is 5-4 with a 1.10 goals against average. She has 30 saves (75.0 save percentage) and four shutouts.
*On Aug. 26 against Cal State Fullerton, Yount became the first Aztec freshman to start an opening game in net since Katherine Judkins in 1996. Judkins is among the school leaders in many categories including career shutouts (first, 23.5), career saves (second, 192), career GAA (second, 0.97), GAA in a season (first, 0.61 in 1998) and shutouts in a season (second, 10.5 in 1998).
*Katie Sullivan (1997) was the last SDSU goalie to see any playing time as a freshman goalkeeper.
*Click on the PDF file to see compare Yount with other past Aztec freshmen.
Strength of Schedule
*The coaching staff certainly didn't make things easy for the young squad with a schedule that will feature six opponents who advanced to the 2004 NCAA soccer tournament. Here is a look at how far those teams advanced:
*NCAA quarterfinals: Portland (20-4), Washington (17-5-1)
*NCAA third round: Nebraska (14-9)
*NCAA second round: San Diego (12-8)
*NCAA first round: UNLV (12-5-2), Utah (13-6-3)
*Combined record of the six teams: 88-37-6 (.694)
*Combined 2004 record of SDSU's 2005 opponents: 195-160-46 (.544)
*Combined 2005 record of SDSU's 2005 opponents: 78-57-16 (.570)
The Mello and Sutton Connection
*The Aztec coaching staff must be excited knowing that they will have the freshmen tandom of Jen Mello and Erika Sutton for four years.
The duo is responsible for 51.5 percent of the team's scoring (17/33 points) thus far and three of Mello's team-leading four goals have been off assists from Sutton.
*Click on the PDF file to see compare Mello and Sutton with other past freshmen tandoms.