June 24, 2013
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State women's soccer head coach Mike Friesen has signed a five-year contract extension, SDSU athletics director Jim Sterk announced. The 2012 Mountain West Coach of the Year will now lead the program through the 2017 campaign.
"I am very excited about the future here at San Diego State," Friesen said. "We feel like we are moving in a great direction with the program and we know that we can accomplish some amazing things. I am so thankful that I have been given this opportunity to lead such an amazing group of young women and am proud to be an Aztec for life."
Friesen is coming off his sixth and most successful season as head coach of the Aztecs. In 2012, San Diego State advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship, won the MW regular-season and tournament titles, and was ranked as high as third in the country.
The best campaign in school history netted numerous program records including most wins (21), top winning percentage (.896) and fewest losses (2), and SDSU's first All-American since 1998. The Aztecs, who finished with an RPI of 3, also shared the nation's best record at 21-2-1.
In six seasons at the helm, Friesen, the 2012 NSCAA Pacific Region Coach of the Year and Captain U National Coach of the Year, has guided San Diego State to a pair of NCAA Championship appearances, the first of which was in 2009, when the Aztecs won their first NCAA game since 1998. Under his watch, SDSU has won three Mountain West titles and compiled a record of 69-40-18. The 69 wins are the second-most in the history of the program and his winning percentage of .614 is the best of all Aztec women's soccer head coaches.