Nov. 11, 2009
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Release in PDF Format
GAME WEEK RESET
SAN DIEGO (12-6-2; 5-2-0 WCC) vs. #16 SAN DIEGO STATE (14-3-5; 5-0-2 MWC)
NCAA Championships - First Round | Drake Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Friday, Nov. 13 | 8 p.m. PT | GameTracker
AZTEC STORY LINES
- The 16th-ranked Aztecs head north to Los Angeles and UCLA for the first round of the NCAA Championships. SDSU will play San Diego on Friday, Nov. 13, in a match set for 8 p.m. PT at Drake Stadium.
- San Diego State is making just its third NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and first since 1999. The Aztecs were also participants in 1998.
- SDSU is 1-2 all time in NCAA Tournament games. The Aztecs went 1-1 in 1998 to advance to the third round, while the 1999 team was ousted in the first round by Friday's opponent, San Diego.
- The Aztecs' current 15-game unbeaten streak (11-0-4) is the school's longest in a single season. The all-time program record 16 (14-0-2) when the 1995 team went unbeaten in its last 10 and the 1996 group won its first six to open the campaign.
- SDSU's 15-game unbeaten streak is tied for the fourth longest in the nation. Dayton leads the nation at 21 straight games without a loss, while Stanford (20), Central Michigan (17), San Diego State and Note Dame (15) round out the top five. The Aztecs' last defeat happened on Sept. 11 in a 2-1 overtime loss at Arizona State.
- San Diego State's 14 victories this season is its most since 1999 when that squad finished with a record of 15-7.
- The Aztecs carry a season-long seven-game winning streak into the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The streak is the school's longest since the 1998 team won 12 in a row.
- SDSU is ranked 16th in the Soccer America Magazine poll, which is the first time in recent memory that the Aztecs have appeared in the top 25. In the other two polls, San Diego State is receiving votes. The Aztecs earned 16 points in the soccertimes.com poll to rank 27th nationally and are No. 32 in Division I after garnering eight points in the NSCAA poll.
- San Diego State finished the Mountain West Conference season with an unbeaten record of 5-0-2. It is the first time in Mountain West history that an Aztec team navigated through conference play without suffering a loss. In fact, the last and only other time it has happened in school history was in 1998 when that team went 6-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.
- San Diego State's five Mountain West wins were its most since going 5-1-0 in 1999, the MWC's first year of existence.
- San Diego State has scored 35 goals this year, which is the most since the 2002 campaign (39).
- What a difference a year makes. Last year, San Diego State went a combined 1-6-1 on the road and 1-8-2 in road/neutral games. This season, the Aztecs are an impressive 8-2-2 in road/neutral contests. Their 14 overall wins, meanwhile, is five more than any Mike Friesen-coached team and is the most since 1999 when that team won 15. The five Mountain West wins are also the most by a Friesen-led team.
AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
San Diego State played six games against five teams that advanced to this season's NCAA Tournament. In those contests, SDSU posted a record of 1-2-3 with its win coming at nationally ranked BYU and ties occurring at Harvard, vs. Brigham Young and Oregon State. The Aztecs' two losses came at the hands of No. 1 Stanford at Arizona State, both of which happened on the road.
A WIN WOULD...
- ... Give San Diego State its first NCAA Tournament win since 1998.
- ... Even the Aztecs' all-time NCAA Tournament record to 2-2.
- ... Give San Diego State its 15th win of the season, its most since 1999, and third-most in program history.
- ... Extend the Aztecs' winning streak to eight.
- ... Match the longest overall unbeaten streak (16) in school history.
- ... Match the amount of wins from the two previous seasons combined (15).
AZTECS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
San Diego State is making just its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament (1998, 1999, 2009) ... SDSU is 1-2 all-time in the postseason ... In 1998, the Aztecs (19-3-1) defeated USC in overtime, 1-0, before losing at Portland, 5-0 ... The following season, SDSU (15-7-0) was ousted at San Diego, 2-1, in the first round
OPPOSITION NOTEBOOK
San Diego
San Diego finished the season with a 12-6-2 record and in second place in the West Coast Conference (5-2-0) ... USD is making its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament ... The Toreros lost a 2-0 decision to No. 2 Portland in their last outing ... Prior to the defeat, USD had won five straight, four of which were at home ... San Diego is not ranked in any of the three major polls, but is ranked third in the NSCAA West Region Poll ... The Toreros are led offensively by Stephanie Ochs, who leads the team with 20 points (6 g, 8 a) ... Christine Mock is second on the team in points with 11 (5 g, 1 a) ... Courtney Parsons has seven shutouts and has a GAA of 1.15, while earning all 20 decisions
AZTECS VS. THE OPPOSITION
San Diego
The Aztecs are 6-4-1 all time vs. San Diego ... The schools have split the last two meetings, with each team winning on its home field ... The last meeting took place back in october of 2006 at USD ... SDSU went 5-1-1 in the first seven meetings, but have gone 1-3-0 since ... Friday's match will be the team's first at a neutral site.
NOTES FROM THE MWC TOURNAMENT
Post-Championship Game Notes
By winning the MWC Tournament, the Aztecs captured their first tourney title in Mountain West history and just their third in the history of the program ... The Aztecs were WAC champs in 1995 and 1998 ... Cat Walker was named MWC Tournament MVP and earned a spot on the all-tournament team ... Michaela DeJesus, Niki Fernandes and Aubree Southwick were also named to the all-tourney team.
Championship Game vs. (1)BYU
The win over the Cougars marked the 11th anniversary of San Diego State's last victory against BYU in Provo ... SDSU's last W at BYU occurred on Nov. 7, 1998. ... The Aztecs were 0-5-2 in their previous seven in Provo ... San Diego State became just the third team to shutout BYU this season ... SDSU snapped the Cougars' 15-game unbeaten streak.
Semifinal Game vs. (3)Utah
With the semifinal win over Utah, the Aztecs snapped a 10-game winless streak against the Utes ... SDSU's last victory over Utah occurred on Oct. 11, 2001 ... The victory was SDSU's first in MWC tournament play since 2005.
WALKER EARNS NATIONAL HONOR
Cat Walker, who scored the tying goal against Utah in the MWC semifinals and the winning goal in the championship game vs. eighth-ranked BYU, was named a CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Player for the week of Nov. 2-8. The award is her first of her career and second national individual honor for San Diego State this season. Defender Hayley Marsh was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week on Sept. 22.
AZTECS PICK UP A TON OF HARDWARE
At the Mountain West Conference banquet prior to the Championships, San Diego State dominated the postseason accolades. Cat Walker was named the Mountain West Conference's Offensive Player of the Year, while Mike Friesen was named Coach of the Year. Walker was also named to the all-conference first team along with freshman Niki Fernandes and sophomore Megan McQueeny. Junior goalkeeper Aubree Southwick, meanwhile, was named to the second team.
Walker became the school's first offensive player of the year in school history, while Friesen became SDSU's first coach of the year since Chuck Clegg earned WAC honors in 1998. The Aztecs' three first-teamers is the program's most since it had three in 2004 and the four overall all-conference selections is the most since 2007.
MORE TO COME
If the Aztecs surprised anyone this season, that will not be the case next year as they lose just four seniors off this season's team. If the year ended prior to the NCAA First Round game, San Diego State would return 85.7 percent of its goals, 82.8 percent of its assists, 84.8 percent of its total points and its No. 1 goalkeeper in Aubree Southwick.
TOP DUO IN MOUNTAIN WEST
San Diego State, by far, had the top offensive duo in the Mountain West Conference. Junior Cat Walker and freshman Niki Fernandes turned up their games during the conference slate and their names can be found at the top of the list of nearly every offensive category. The twosome share the league lead (MWC games only) in points (10) and points per game (1.43), while Walker is tied for first in goals (4) and goals per game (0.57), and Fernandes shared the conference lead in assists (4) and assists per game (0.57). Not only that, Walker finished tied for second in shots (24) and shots per game (3.43), tied for fourth in assists (2) and assists per game (.29). For the season as a whole, Walker leads the team with 25 points (10 g, 5 a) and ranks just above Fernandes, who has 19 points (6 g, 7 a).
STELLAR BACKLINE
The Aztec defense has been solid all season long, but none more so than against Mountain West Conference competition. Since its league-opening 2-2 tie with BYU, San Diego State has allowed only four goals the rest of the way. In the 13 non-conference games prior to the start of conference play, SDSU allowed 15 goals (1.2 gpg). The backline features a healthy mix of players, including Megan McQueeny, Gretel Amman, Hayley Marsh, Britney Bennett and Rachael McGlinchy. It's the play of the aforementioned group that has made goalkeeper Aubree Southwick's job easy recently.
SOUTHWICK STRONG
As the season went on, the defensive unit not only got stronger, but goalkeeper Aubree Southwick did as well. In the first 12 games of the season, the junior only had four shutouts, while allowing 15 goals. In the 10 games to follow, Southwick posted five shutouts and gave up just six goals. Down the stretch, the goalkeeper's efforts were rewarded as she was named MWC Defensive Player of the Week twice in a span of 14 days after shutting out Wyoming, Air Force and UNLV on the road.
MORE ON SOUTHWICK
In the game vs. Seattle, Aubree Southwick became the school's all-time leader in career saves. The junior entered the season with 159 career stops and made four saves against the Redhawks to up her total to 206 on that day. She surpassed Lorena Snyder's 204 saves, which were recorded from 1990-93. Entering SDSU's NCAA first-round match, Southwick has 244 career denials. She is also 1.5 shutouts shy of tying Katherine Judkins (1996-99) for most shutouts in a career.
FOURTH? CHILD, PLEASE
Back in August, the Aztecs were picked to finish in fourth place in the Mountain West Conference with 30 overall points and zero first-place votes. Like most preseason polls, this one did not shake out as predicted as SDSU finished two places higher and in second place.
MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS COMING TO SDSU IN 2010
San Diego State will play host to the Mountain West Conference Women's Soccer Championship in 2010 at SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs were awarded hosting rights by the MWC after their performance in league play this season. The tournament returns to San Diego after more than 10 years away from America's Finest City. The Aztecs last played host to the MWC Championships in 1999 at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., one year prior to the opening of the Sports Deck, which opened in time for the 2000 campaign.