Oct. 10, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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The San Diego State women's soccer team begins its quest for a Mountain West Conference championship on the road this weekend. The Aztecs kickoff MWC play on Friday against the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., at 5 p.m. MT. SDSU will then travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to battle UNLV on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Last season, Air Force struggled going winless, 0-5-2, in MWC action and ended up with a 3-12-4 overall record.
The Falcons are once again off to a rough start with only two wins in their first 12 games. Air Force is already 0-1 in the MWC after losing at TCU, 3-1, on Saturday.
AFA has played some of its best soccer at home where it has a 2-2-1 record with wins over Davidson and North Dakota State.
Offensively, the Falcons are led by junior Rachel Emory who has two goals and an assist. Senior Katherine Slogic is tied with Emory for the team lead with two goals.
In the net, junior Erin Wallace has started nine contests and owns a 1.10 goals against average and has made 28 saves. Wallace has also posted three shutouts this year.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
The Rebels were the talk of the MWC last year when they won three straight games in the conference tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and their third consecutive conference crown.
As UNLV opens conference action this year, the team's play has been up and down. While the Rebels opened the season with wins against CS Fullerton and Arizona State and have posted victories over Pepperdine and Washington State, they also dropped matches against Central Florida, South Carolina and Nevada-Reno.
UNLV has been unbeatable at the Peter Johann Memorial Soccer Field with a 4-0-2 record.
Stepping up this year for UNLV has been senior Katie Carney. Carney is tied for the team lead in goals (3) and shots on net (11), while also being the team leader with 10 points.
Carney is tied in goals scored with sophomore Niki Connolly. The three goals scored by the Woodland Hills, Calif., native surpasses here 2006 total of two in 23 games.
At the goalkeeper position, UNLV has one of the MWC's best in sophomore Alicia Lugo. Lugo was the netminder that led the Rebels to three straight wins and the conference title. For her efforts she was a member of the MWC All-Tournament team.
This year, Lugo has been equally as good recording six shutouts and posting a 0.63 goals against average. Lugo is also second in the league with 52 saves.
FOLLOW AZTEC SOCCER ON THE WEB
Live Stats for Sunday's game will be available on GoAztecs.com. No Live Stats will be available for the game at Air Force.
LAST TIME WE MET
In 2006, Air Force and SDSU battled for 110 minutes to 2-2 tie. Freshman Jill Foss made her first career start and made three saves while junior Jessica Girdner and sophomore Becky Ryan chipped in goals. The Aztecs snapped their five-game losing streak against the Rebels last October when SDSU won 4-1 at the SDSU Sports Deck. Sophomore Jen Mello scored her fourth and fifth goals of the season while junior Jessica Girdner and sophomore Cat Walker also posted scores.
LAST TIME OUT
The San Diego State women's soccer team returned home last weekend after completing a four-game road trip. The Aztecs split with No. 2 UCLA and CS Bakersfield in the final non-conference match ups of 2007. Against UCLA, the Aztecs were unable to keep up with the vaunted Bruin offense in a 5-1 defeat. SDSU rebounded against CSUB with a resounding 3-0 win over the Roadrunners. Freshmen Brooke Holliday and Ashley Omphroy, as well as junior Alicia Piz, each scored their first goals of the year.
STARTING THE CLIMB UP THE  MOUNTAIN
When the Aztecs take the field at Air Force on Friday, they'll be looking for their first win in a conference opener since 2001 versus Utah. SDSU is 3-3-2 in MWC openers all-time and will be seeking its first winning conference record since 2004 when the team went 3-1-2.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Aztecs spent the majority of their first half of the season, six games, on the road. Last year, the Aztecs struggled on the road winning only three of 11 games. With the victory at Arizona (9/30), SDSU has already matched that number with three contests away from Montezuma Mesa left on the schedule.