Women's Soccer

Aztecs Open MWC Action With Friday Home Match vs. TCU

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Sept. 28, 2010

SAN DIEGO -

SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Release in PDF Format

GAME WEEK RESET
2010 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE OPENER
TCU (5-5-1) at SAN DIEGO STATE (2-7-3)
Friday, Oct. 1 | 4 p.m. PT | SDSU Sports Deck

AZTEC STORY LINES
- San Diego State, the defending Mountain West Conference champions, opens league play with a single match this week as TCU heads to SDSU Sports Deck for a Friday afternoon date. First tap is scheduled for 4 p.m. PT and follows the 1:30 p.m., Aztec men's game vs. Oregon State.

- SDSU enters the conference opener in desperate need of a victory after suffering losses to Cal State Fullerton, 2-1, and Cal Poly, 1-0, this past weekend. The Aztecs are winless in their last five matches, going 0-4-1 during that span. San Diego State last experienced a win on Sept. 10 after disposing of San Jose State at home, 2-1.

- With one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country behind them, the Aztecs come into MWC play looking for a fresh start. San Diego State enters Friday's match with a seven-game winning streak vs. Mountain West foes and is unbeaten in its last nine vs. league opponents (7-0-2).

- SDSU went through the 2009 Mountain West Conference schedule without suffering a loss, going 5-0-2 before beating Utah and Brigham Young in the conference tournament to claim the championship. A year ago, San Diego State opened with ties vs. BYU and Utah and then ran off five straight wins to end the regular season, including a 4-1 decision at TCU in the finale.

- The Aztecs have not fared well in MWC openers since going 3-0 in the first three seasons of the league. After the unblemished start, SDSU has gone 1-4-3 in the first match of the league campaign. San Diego State is 0-1-1 in its last two Mountain West openers, including a 2-2 tie with No. 13 BYU last season. SDSU's last MWC league-opening victory occurred on Oct. 12, 2007, when it beat Air Force, 2-0, on the road.

- Despite the slow start and some of the injuries the Aztecs have experienced, San Diego State still has much of the core that went 15-4-5 overall and 5-0-2 in the Mountain West last season. It was at this point in the season where SDSU caught fire and finished the year 9-1-2 after going 6-3-3 after the first 12 matches. The Aztecs eventually won the MWC championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

- SDSU will look to continue the trend that was started last year and that is to play well in the month of October. Just 12 months ago, the Aztecs stormed to a 6-0-3 record in October. The first four matches of October 2009 went tie, win, tie, tie, but ended with five victories, four of which came on the road. In head coach Mike Friesen's three previous seasons, the Aztecs have gone a combined12-8-6 (4-3-1 in 2007, 2-5-2 in 2008, 6-0-3 in 2009) in the month of October.

- San Diego State will meet TCU for the ninth time in the history of the series. The Aztecs own a 5-3 record against the Horned Frogs and won last year's meeting, 4-1, in Fort Worth. The schools have split the last four meetings with the Frogs winning two of the last three.

- In matches played in San Diego, the Aztecs have won two of the three meetings with TCU. San Diego State posted a 2-0 victory in 1991 and an overtime, 1-0, win in 2007. The Horned Frogs, however, emerged with a 2-1 decision in their last trip to SDSU Sports Deck in 2008. In fact, TCU swept two matches in 2008 by winning on Montezuma Mesa and then in Las Vegas at the MWC Championship.

FAMILY AFFAIR
Friday will be the second all-time meeting between San Diego State's Sarah Halverson and TCU's Kristen Halverson. The sisters from Trabuco Hills High School and Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., faced each other last year in Fort Worth with Sarah stealing the show. Just a freshman, Sarah Halverson came off the bench, scored the game-winner and then assisted on Aztec goals in the 81st and 88th minute en route to the 4-1 victory and her first MWC Offensive Player of the Week award. Sarah Halverson played 22 minutes in that contest, while Kristen Halverson logged 38 in her first season as a Horned Frog following her transfer from Cal State Fullerton. Coming into the league opener, sophomore Sarah Halverson ranks second on the team in goals (2) and points (6), and is tied with senior Michaela DeJesus for the Aztec lead in assists (2). TCU junior Kristen Halverson, meanwhile, has three points after recording a goal and an assist. Both have played in each of their team's games this season.

OPPOSITION NOTEBOOK
TCU
The Horned Frogs come into Friday's match with a 5-5-1 record, earning victories every other game... TCU's signature win came at No. 17 Memphis when it blanked the Tigers, 3-0... Including the Memphis victory, the Frogs have shut out three opponents in Texas Southern, 7-0, and Sam Houston State, 6-0... On the flip side, TCU has been shut out five times, including three of its last five outings... The Frogs are coming off a 1-1 week after beating Texas-San Antonio, 4-1, on the road, and falling to Texas State, 3-0, at home... Jordan Calhoun leads the team with 10 points and shares the TCU lead with four goals (Kim Castleberry)... Castleberry and Alex Mechalske are second on the squad with eight points... Kelsey Walters (3-4-0; 1.47 GAA) and Kira Michelson-Bartlett (2-1-1; 1.82 GAA) have split the majority of time in net and have a combined GAA of 1.60.