Aug 21, 2013
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Release
Game Week Reset
[rv/--] USC (0-0) vs. [11/11] San Diego State (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 23 | 5 p.m. PT | Torero Stadium | San Diego, Calif.
Saint Mary's (0-0) at [11/11] San Diego State (0-0)
Sunday, Aug. 25 | 1 p.m. PT | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
Aztec Story Lines
- No. 11/11 (NSCAA/Soccer America) San Diego State will open its 25th season of Division I soccer on Friday when it travels across town to Torero Stadium on the campus of USD to face USC at 5 p.m. PT. After a day off, the Aztecs will return to action on Sunday and play host to Saint Mary's at 1 p.m. PT atop SDSU Sports Deck.
- The San Diego State-USC game is the first game of the USD Tournament and admission is $5. Live stats for both the USC and Saint Mary's games will be available through GoAztecs.com.
- The Aztecs are opening the campaign away from Montezuma Mesa for the first time since 2010 and are looking to win their third straight lidlifter. A victory over the Women of Troy would propel San Diego State's season-opening record to 15-9-1 overall and 4-2-1 under seventh-year head coach Mike Friesen.
- SDSU is set to open the season vs. a Pac-12 Conference school for the fifth time in program history. In those games, the Aztecs are just 1-3, but emerged victorious their last time out as they beat Arizona, 1-0, at home in 2011.
- When San Diego State returns to The Mesa on Sunday, it will look to keep intact its six-game unbeaten home-opener streak (4-0-2). Coincidentally, that lines up with the beginning of the Friesen era. In the 24 previous years of Aztec Soccer, SDSU is 15-6-3 in its first home game of the year.
- The Aztecs, when they play host to the Gaels, will look to protect a 10-game regular-season home winning streak. To find their last loss, one would need to look back to Oct. 16, 2011, when Boise State edged SDSU, 1-0. Last season, San Diego State won 14 straight home games before falling to No. 5 UCLA in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament (Nov. 18, 2012).
- Not as lengthy, but still significant is the Aztecs' current six-game road/neutral unbeaten streak (5-0-1). SDSU will look to extend that on Friday vs. USC. A year ago, San Diego State went 7-1-1 at road/neutral sites with the only blemish coming at the hands of No. 3 Stanford in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sept. 14. The Cardinal earned the victory on a free kick in the 30th minute.
- San Diego State is meeting USC for the ninth time and first time since 2001. The Aztecs lead the all-time series, 5-3, but dropped last get-together, 2-1, at home. In games played within county lines, SDSU is 3-1 vs. the Women of Troy. Friday's meeting will be the first at a neutral site.
- The Aztecs' all-time record vs. the Pac-12 Conference is just 23-43-7 (vs. teams in the Pac-10/12 at game time), but San Diego State has performed better recently splitting its last six games. In fact, two of SDSU's three losses could have gone the Scarlet and Black's way with a different bounce as one was a 2-1 overtime decision (at California in 2011) and the other was the aforementioned free kick at Stanford in 2012.
- San Diego State and Saint Mary's are renewing a series that has been dormant since 1997. From 1991 to 1997, the teams met every year, except in 1995, with the Gaels claiming four of the six decisions. The two games the Aztecs were able to wrestle away from SMC occurred in San Diego. SDSU won, 3-0, in 1992, and 4-1 in 1996.
- The Aztecs, over their history, have played nearly even soccer with members of the West Coast Conference (vs. teams of the WCC at game time), going 22-30-5. Last year alone, SDSU went 2-0-1 vs. the West Coast, picking up wins over No. 5 Pepperdine and No. 23 Portland, and playing to a 1-1 double-overtime draw at No. 20 Santa Clara. In the Friesen era, the Aztecs are 4-3-1 vs. the WCC and 3-1-1 in their last five vs. the league.
- In addition to Saint Mary's, San Diego State will also face Pepperdine, San Diego and Portland in a three-game stretch later this season. The Aztecs will head to Malibu to face the Waves on Sept. 15, and then play host to the Toreros five days later on Sept. 20. On the same homestand as the USD game, SDSU will roll out the welcome mat for Portland on Sept. 22, a team the Aztecs have beaten two consecutive years.
- The Aztecs are coming off their most successful season, one that saw them win both Mountain West titles, advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament and share the national lead for best record at 21-2-1 with Stanford. Off that team and back for more are 16 letterwinners and seven starters, including MW Defensive Player of the Year Haley Palmer, MW first-team selections Carli Johnson (MW tournament MVP) and Hannah Keane, and all-MW tournament performer Kelsey Booth.
Opponent Notebook
USC
The Women of Troy enter the season with 15 votes in the preseason NSCAA poll, which is good for 31st nationally... At the Pac-12 level, USC finished in eighth place in the league's preseason coaches' poll... Last season, USC finished with an overall record of 6-10-3 and conference record of 3-6-2... Against common opponents (Minnesota, Portland, Arizona State, California and UCLA) in 2012, USC went 1-4 whereas SDSU went 4-1... USC's win and SDSU's loss vs. common foes was UCLA; USC beat UCLA in OT, 3-2, and the Aztecs lost, 3-0, in the NCAA tournament... USC returns 22 of its 27 goals from a season ago (81.5 percent) or 11 of its 12 goal scorers from 2012.
Saint Mary's
The Gaels will open the season Friday against Grand Canyon at home before heading south to face the Aztecs... Saint Mary's was picked to finish eighth in the WCC's preseason poll after finishing 2012 with a record of 6-12-2 (1-7-0 WCC)... SMC returns two of its top three goals scorers in Vicki Shimkus and Melinda Madden... Shimkus scored a team-high five goals and accumulated an SMC-best 13 points a season ago... Madden was tied for second in goals with four last year and finished with nine points... Khayla Jones also returns after starting 13 games in net for Saint Mary's... Jones had a GAA of 1.39 and was 5-6-1 on the year in 2012.