Nov. 2, 2005
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Freshman Erika Sutton scored one goal and added an assist, and sophomore Lisa Nielsen had her first goal of the season to lead the San Diego State women's soccer team to a 2-0 upset over No. 17 BYU in a Mountain West Conference quarterfinal match Wednesday night at Peter Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas, Nev. The victory was the first for the Aztecs (11-8-2) over a ranked team since Oct. 16, 2003, when they beat the same Cougars, 1-0, at the SDSU Sports Deck.
SDSU, the sixth seed in the tournament, will now play the winner of seventh-seeded TCU and second-seeded and host UNLV at 7 p.m. Thursday in the MWC semifinals.
"We never doubted that this team could possess an amazing work-rate for 90 minutes," second-year Aztec head coach Mike Giuliano said. "We did it tonight."
Sutton, who received second-team all-MWC honors on Tuesday night at the league's annual banquet, got SDSU on the scoreboard first at 29:32 when she dribbled the ball into the six-yard box, turned and touched the ball past BYU (15-2-3) goalkeeper Erika Woodbury into the left side of the net. It was Sutton's fifth goal of the season.
Freshman Mariko Strickland almost gave the Aztecs a 2-0 lead minutes later, but her shot from 25 yards out just went over the crossbar.
The first half buzzer sounded with the third-seeded Cougars holding a 6-3 lead in shots and a 2-0 edge in corner kicks.
SDSU added another goal at 65:04, when Sutton beat a BYU defender on the right side and slid a pass to Nielsen who drilled the shot into the left corner for her first tally of the season.
A few minutes later, Aztec goalkeeper Cat Burson made a diving save to her right, keeping the match at 2-0.
The Cougars kept the pressure up for the rest of the game, but the SDSU defense held strong for the victory.
For the match, BYU had 13 shots to SDSU's 7 and had a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Strickland and Sutton each had two shots to lead the Aztec offense.
Burson (5-4-2) played all 90 minutes in net for SDSU and made four saves for her fourth shutout of the season. Woodbury had one stop for the Cougars.
GAME NOTES: Sutton's 20 points on five goals and 10 assists are the most by an Aztec freshman since 2000, when Kim Castellanos had 21 points (10 goals, one assist) ... Sutton's 10 assists are the most since Lori LaCoursiere had 10 in 1998. Sutton is now tied for third on the all-time SDSU single-season assist list ... Burson's four saves gives her an 86.3 save percentage, best in Aztec history ... SDSU is 9-2 this season when Sutton records a point ... The Aztecs are 9-2-1 when scoring first ... SDSU began the game with the same starters - Burson, Ashley Tenn, Millie Allen, Alexis Solovij, Jen Mello, Sutton, Amanda Swiader, Jessica Girdner, Strickland, Ashley Young and Ashley Cooper - as its last match (at UNLV, Oct. 29). It was the first time since Sept. 11 (UC Irvine) and Sept. 16 (George Washington) that the Aztecs started the same lineup in consecutive games.