Aug. 14, 2010
LONG BEACH, Calif. - San Diego State, hit by the injury bug in the early part of fall camp, put all of that aside on Saturday evening as it defeated Long Beach State, 2-1, at George Allen Field on the 49er campus.
SDSU, which only had two field players available on the bench, used this preseason friendly as an opportunity to let its freshmen and newcomers gain valuable experience. One freshman, Haley Palmer, did not let the opportunity pass her by as she put San Diego State up 1-0 with her goal in the 17th minute. Assisting on the play was fellow freshman Zoe Carroll and sophomore Sarah Halverson.
Later with the first half winding down, Halverson took a pass from another freshman, Soledad Gomez, and knocked her shot off the right post and past Long Beach State goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves to give the Aztecs a two-goal advantage.
SDSU goalkeeper Aubree Southwick was seriously challenged only three times in the first half, but she had just as many save chances in the first eight minutes of the second period. The senior denied the first two shot attempts and the third, a header by Lindsay Bullock, was stopped as well. The 49ers were awarded a corner kick and the shot was blocked by Southwick. Bullock, however, headed the rebound and found the back of the net to trim the visitors' lead to one with more than 31 minutes left in regulation.
From there, the Aztecs' defense took over and limited Long Beach State to just three shots the rest of the way, only one of which was on net, and SDSU emerged with the win.
Britney Bennett, Marisa Fraticelli and Megan McQueeny played all 90 minutes, while Palmer logged 84 minutes on the pitch. Southwick, meanwhile, played just under 75 minutes and made a game-high seven saves before giving way to Megan Allaire.
San Diego State will return to Montezuma Mesa and continue fall camp in preparation for its season opener at preseason No. 9 Santa Clara on Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. PT. The Aztecs start with four consecutive matches on the road and follow it with four straight at home beginning with Detroit on Sept. 3. The fourth and final match of the opening homestand will feature 21-time and defending national champion North Carolina on Sept. 12.