Sept. 26, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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The San Diego State women's soccer team continues its four-game road trip this weekend as it travels to the Valley of the Sun for a pair of games. On Friday, the Aztecs take on Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz., at 7 p.m. SDSU travels south for a match up on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Arizona in Tucson.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
The Sun Devils own a 4-4 record after losing back-to-back games, 1-0, to New Mexico and No. 1 Santa Clara.
ASU proved to be a tough challenge in the loss to the top-ranked Broncos. The Sun Devils held the vaunted Santa Clara offense to seven shots.
Prior to the match up against Santa Clara, ASU defeated Charlotte, SMU and TCU by a combined score of 7-1.
The Sun Devils have had a solid defense all season giving up 53 shots in eight games while sophomore Briana Silvestri has held her own in the net recording three shutouts and registering a 0.75 goals against average.
Offensively, Arizona State is led by sophomore Carly Kallas and freshman Karin Volpe who each have scored twice. Volpe leads the team with five points and is tied for second on the team with 13 shots.
ASU is the second of four Pac-10 teams on the Aztecs' 2007 schedule. The Sun Devils were picked to finish seventh in the preseason coaches' poll.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Arizona enters the weekend with a 4-4 overall record.
The Wildcats have lost three straight, with two of those loses coming against No. 1 Santa Clara and No. 4 Virginia.
Against the top-ranked Broncos on Sunday, Arizona held its own for 102 minutes before falling, 1-0, in double overtime.
Earlier this season, UA won four straight culminating with a 2-0 victory over No. 4 Texas. In the game, freshman goalkeeper Danielle Nicolai stepped up to make five saves for her lone shutout of the season.
Nicolai has appeared in all eight Arizona contests, making seven starts. The Wildcats also can use junior Devon Wharf, who started the opener versus Utah, in the net.
On the offensive side of the ball, freshman Jasmin Day has also made an immediate impact leading the team with three goals and seven points. Arizona has depth in the goal scoring department with three players (juniors London King and Savanah Levake, and sophomore Jasmine Namdar) who have each tallied two goals.
Sunday's contest will be game two of the Four Points by Sheraton Tucson University Plaza Wildcats Classic for Arizona. The `Cats will take on Creighton in game one on Friday night.
FOLLOW AZTEC SOCCER ON THE WEB
Live Stats for Friday night's game will be available via GoAztecs.com while Sunday's contest can be accessed by clicking on ArizonaAthletics.com.
LAST TIME WE MET
This week's game will be the first against ASU since 2004 when the Sun Devils blanked the Aztecs 3-0 in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State scored two minutes into the game and never looked back.
The last match up between the Aztecs and Wildcats occurred back in 1995. SDSU defeated `Zona, 4-1, behind Stefanie Mathews who scored two goals.
FROSH SENSATION
Breaking in a new goalkeeper might worry some coaches, but the SDSU coaching staff has had little to fret about as freshman Aubree Southwick has shined, showing why she was one of the top goalkeeper recruits in the country.
Southwick has been a mainstay in the net, starting all eight of the Aztecs' games in 2007. She has played in all 777 minutes and leads the Mountain West Conference with 51 saves. She owns a 0.69 goals against average and stopped .895 percent of the opposition's shots on goal, which places her 58th and 21st in the nation, respectively.
The Danville, Calif., became the first Aztec goalie since Sophia Perez in 2004 to post three consecutive shutouts and ran her personal scoreless streak to 429 minutes. Following Friday night's 1-0 win over San Jose State, Southwick has now recorded four shutouts.
LINEUP CONSISTENCY
In 2006, no Aztec started all 20 games and only two, Jackie Ragudos and Heather Vandevanter, made in appearance in each of the team's outings.
This season, the Aztec lineup has seen six players start all eight games and 10 different women take the field in each SDSU contest played.
DON'T FORGET THE BACKLINE
It's easy to look at the box score and give praise to the goalkeeper who leads the Mountain West Conference with 51 saves. While Aubree Southwick's play has been impressive, it doesn't tell the complete story of how the Aztec defenders have played a large roll in holding opponents to six goals in eight games.
Junior-transfer Ali Lokanc, sophomore Millie Allen, senior Ashley Young, junior Jillian Riker as well as sophomore Allie Crowson and freshman Daniela Kozar have consistently executed the coaches' game plan to take the pressure off of Southwick and help SDSU shutout four of its first eight opponents.
FORWARD MOMENTUM
Stepping up on offense this season has been senior Jackie Ragudos and junior Alicia Piz.
The duo ranks No. 1 and No. 2 on the team in shots taken with 15 and 12 respectively. The two have combined to register nine of SDSU's 16 points.
In Ragudos' first season on the Mesa, she attempted five shots in 20 games, while in 21 games over two seasons for Piz, the native of Littleton, Colo., had taken 14.