Nov. 6, 2007
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State freshman goalkeeper Aubree Southwick made Mountain West Conference women's soccer history on Tuesday when she became the first player since the league started play in 1999 to earn two postseason individual awards in the same year when the league's eight head coaches named her both the Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman Player of the Year.
The No. 2-seeded Aztecs, in this week's MWC tournament, also had four honorees, including Southwick, named to the 2007 all-conference team.
The Danville, Calif., native tallied a league leading five shutouts in seven MWC contests while leading the Aztecs to their best conference finish since 2000. In MWC play, Southwick led all netminders in goals against average (0.41) and save percentage (.921) while also finishing in a tie for third in saves (35). Overall, Southwick leads all conference goalies with 101 stops.
The two-time MWC Defensive Player of the Week honoree joins Alexis Solovij (2004) as the program's second conference defensive player of the year recipient. The first-team all-league selection also becomes SDSU's second freshman of the year award winner along with Kim Castellanos (2000).
Joining Southwick as a first team all-MWC selection was senior Jackie Ragudos. The San Diego, native led the Aztecs offensively with three goals, six points, 12 shots and nine shots on net. Ragudos was responsible for the game-winning goals against both Air Force and Wyoming. Overall, Ragudos, who transferred from Cal Poly Pomona prior to last season, has been the team's top offensive force, leading the Aztecs with seven goals, 17 points, 30 shots, four game-winning scores and 18 shots on net.
SDSU continued to receive honors as both sophomore Millie Allen and senior Jessica Girdner were named second-team all-conference selections. Allen, who started all seven MWC contests at defender, played all 660 minutes of conference action and helped anchor a defense in front of Southwick that allowed only three goals on 94 shots. The Thornton, Colo., native made her way back from an ACL injury in her left knee to start all 19 Aztec games and tallied two game-winning scores.
Girdner, who has started 38 games dating back to the beginning of last year, also participated in all 660 minutes of MWC action this year. The San Diego, native scored the game-winning goal in the Aztecs' 2-0 win over No. 19 BYU at the SDSU Sports Deck on Oct. 18. The win snapped the team's seven-game winless streak against ranked opponents.
Allen, Girdner, Ragudos, Southwick and the rest of the Aztecs women's soccer team will await the winner of Wednesday's MWC tournament first-round match between No. 3-seed BYU and sixth-seeded TCU. SDSU returns to the pitch on Thursday at 4 p.m. MT at the Cougars' South Stadium in Provo, Utah.
The MWC tournament semifinals will be carried on the The Mtn.-The Mountain West Sports Network with Bill Riley of Sports Radio 700 The Zone in Salt Lake City, Utah, and SDSU Sports Network analyst Tammy Blackburn on the call.