July 10, 2012
2012 SDSU WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State women's soccer head coach Mike Friesen announced his team's 2012 schedule on Tuesday. The 19-game regular season slate includes 10 games to be played at SDSU Sports Deck and is highlighted by seven teams that advanced to the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
"It is our goal to play one of the most challenging schedules in the country each season," Friesen said. "A schedule like this not only prepares us for conference play, but also for NCAA Tournament play. We want to make sure that we have seen the top teams so that when we start the NCAA Tournament, we have experienced the competition and have been refined through adversity."
The Aztecs start their 2012 slate on Friday, Aug. 10, when they travel to Long Beach State for a 7 p.m. exhibition contest.
San Diego State officially opens the regular season at home on Friday, Aug. 17, when SMU visits Montezuma Mesa. For the first time in SDSU Sports Deck history, fans will have the opportunity to see the Aztecs play under the lights as the game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. The Scarlet and Black last played SMU in 1996 and defeated the Mustangs by the score of 3-1 in a contest held in Provo, Utah.
The Aztecs will then welcome Pac-12 foe Arizona State to SDSU Sports Deck for a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday, Aug. 19. Saint Francis, who is coming off its first-ever Northeast Conference regular season championship, comes to town on Wednesday, Aug. 22, followed by Seattle on Friday, Aug. 24. Both contests are scheduled for 7 p.m. at SDSU Sports Deck.
Pepperdine wraps up the Aztecs' four-game home stand as the reigning West Coast Conference champions visit Montezuma Mesa for a contest at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31. The Waves finished 15-2-4 overall in 2011 en route to winning their first WCC title since 2002 and also making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005.
Next up for SDSU will be four consecutive road contests. First is a trip to the Minnesota Gold Classic where the Aztecs will face Minnesota (Sept. 7) and Iowa State (Sept. 9). Last season, SDSU defeated Minnesota in San Diego by the score of 2-1. San Diego State, meanwhile, has never faced Iowa State.
The Aztecs will then head to the Santa Clara Classic where they will face 2011 national champion Stanford on Sept. 14, as well as NCAA participant SCU on Sept. 16. SDSU last faced the Cardinal in 2009 and led fourth-ranked Stanford, 2-0, in Palo Alto, Calif., for nearly 58 minutes before dropping a heartbreaker. The Aztecs' two-goal lead at Stanford was something no team has accomplished in over five seasons.
San Diego State returns home on Friday, Sept. 21, for a contest with UC Irvine, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at SDSU Sports Deck. UCI is coming off a season where it went 14-4-3 and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. The Aztecs will stay within the Big West Conference for their next game set for Sunday, Sept. 23, on the road at UC Santa Barbara.
The Mountain West opener for SDSU, which allowed just two goals during the 2011 conference campaign, is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, at SDSU Sports Deck and will be against newest MW member Nevada.
The Aztecs then begin a four-game road trip that starts off with a contest against Boise State on Friday, Oct. 5. Up next will be a non-conference showdown with Portland. The Pilots return 13 letterwinners and seven starters from a team that reached the second round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
SDSU wraps up its road trip with a game against UNLV on Friday, Oct. 12, and then faces off with another new member of the MW in Fresno State on Sunday, Oct. 14. The final three regular season conference games for the Aztecs will be at home as they face Wyoming (Oct. 19), Air Force (Oct. 21), and reigning MW champion New Mexico (Oct. 26).
In 2012, the Mountain West Championship will be held in San Diego at SDSU Sports Deck. The quarterfinals are set for Wednesday, Oct. 31, with the semifinals slated for Friday, Nov. 2, and the finals on Sunday, Nov. 4.