Oct. 18, 2007
SAN DIEGO - In the first live television event in the history of the SDSU Sports Deck, the San Diego State women's soccer team behind goals from seniors Jessica Girdner and Jackie Ragudos upset No. 19 BYU, 2-0, on Thursday.
With the victory, the Aztecs improve to 7-6-2, 2-1-0 in the Mountain West Conference, and surpass last year's win total of six. The victory also gives SDSU its third home win, eclipsing last year's total of two, and gives the team its first win over a ranked opponent in its last seven match ups.
The loss drops the Cougars' record to 11-2-2, 1-2-0 MWC.
"This was a very big win for our team that puts us in the mix at the top of the conference standings," head coach Mike Friesen said. "I thought our team really came out and executed our game plans perfectly and by doing so we were able to score two goals."
Despite being out shot 16-7 for the game, the Aztecs were able to make the most of their scoring attempts by netting two goals in the opening 11 minutes of the contest.
Girdner got SDSU on the board first with her second goal of the season in the eighth minute off a header that was just able to get by BYU's All-American goalkeeper Erika Woodbury. Girdner was able to coral a pass from junior Jillian Riker's corner kick for her seventh goal of her career. The assist was Riker's first of her Aztec career.
Two minutes later Ragudos was able to tally her team leading sixth goal of the year when she able to use some fancy footwork to avoid her defender and take her shot from 25 yards out on the left side of the field.
"Jackie had a phenomenal goal tonight," Friesen said. "We wanted her to go right after her opponent and be aggressive offensively and she was exactly that."
In the second half, the Aztec packed it in and relied on the strength of their defensive line led by freshman Laura Bahno, sophomores Millie Allen and Allie Crowson, as well junior Ali Lokanc to limit the quality offensive attempts by the Cougars.
The Aztecs missed out on two quality chances of their own when Allen hit the cross bar in the 64th minute and senior Lisa Nielsen just missed scoring her first goal of the campaign when she hit the post at the 72:07 mark.
Once again, SDSU received another stellar outing from freshman goalkeeper Aubree Southwick who made five saves for her seventh shutout of 2007. The blanking of BYU moved her into a four-way tie for third on the Aztec single-season record list.
The Scarlet and Black return to action at the SDSU Sports Deck on Sunday when it welcomes Wyoming to San Diego. Kickoff between the Aztecs and Cowgirls is set for 1 p.m. PT.