Nov. 12, 2013
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Notes
Game Week Reset
San Diego State (13-6-2; 9-1 MW) at (2) [2/2] UCLA (17-1-2; 9-0-2 Pac-12)
Friday, Nov. 15 | 7 p.m. PT | Drake Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Aztec Story Lines
- San Diego State, back-to-back Mountain West regular-season and tournament champions, returns to the NCAA Championship for the second straight year on Friday when it faces second-seeded UCLA in Los Angeles. Game time for the first-round contest is set for 7 p.m. PT at Drake Stadium.
- The Aztecs are in the tournament for the second straight season for the first time since 1998-99 after earning the Mountain West's automatic bid. SDSU earned the berth after it beat Utah State, 3-2, in come-from-behind fashion in the MW semifinals and Boise State, 1-0, in the championship game.
- SDSU is making its fifth all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship and third under head coach Mike Friesen. The seventh-year head coach has guided the Aztecs to the tournament in 2009, 2012 and now in 2013.
- San Diego State will face UCLA for the third consecutive NCAA Championship and at Drake Stadium for the second time in its last three appearances. The Aztecs faced the Bruins in the second round of the 2009 tournament in L.A. and in the Sweet 16 in San Diego before drawing UCLA again this season.
- The last time SDSU played a first round NCAA game at Drake Stadium the Aztecs emerged victorious. In 2009, San Diego State defeated cross-town foe San Diego, 1-0, before earning a date with the Bruins.
- SDSU enters the NCAA Championship with a 4-4 record in the tournament. Under Friesen, the Aztecs are 3-2 in the NCAA tournament.
- In first-round NCAA tournament games, San Diego State is 3-1 and have won the last two outings.
- In an odd twist, San Diego State will be playing its third NCAA Championship game on the Nov. 15 date. On Nov. 15, 1998, the Aztecs defeated USC in overtime, 1-0, in the first round of the tournament. Then on Nov. 15, 2009, SDSU fell to the Bruins in the second round, 5-0.
- San Diego State has captured back-to-back Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, an accomplishment that has only been done once before in conference history. The Aztecs join Brigham Young as the only schools to accomplish the feat. The Cougars did it three straight seasons from 2000-02.
- San Diego State has won back-to-back regular-season titles for the first time since winning two in a row in 1998 (WAC) and 1999 (MW).
- Over the last two seasons, the Aztecs have won 34 games, which ties the school record for most wins over a two-year period. SDSU won 19 in 1998 and 15 in 1999 en route to a pair of NCAA appearances. This season, the Aztecs have been victorious 13 times a year after posting a school-record 21 wins.
- San Diego State enters the NCAA Championship having won seven games in row, which matches its second-longest winning streak of 2012. The Aztecs won seven straight to begin the season before ending the campaign on a 14-game winning streak before UCLA halted the run in the Sweet 16. The Bruins emerged with a 3-0 win that day.
- San Diego State is in the NCAA Championship after overcoming a slow start. The Aztecs opened the year with a 1-4-2 record, which includes a 2-0 loss at UCLA. Since that seven-game opening stretch, SDSU has won 12 of its next 14 games, with one of those losses coming to No. 16 Portland, 2-1, at home.
- The Aztecs hit the road with a 4-4-1 record in true road games. San Diego State, however, is 4-1 in its last five road dates. SDSU's only loss came at Wyoming back on Oct. 13.
- SDSU enters the NCAA Championship with the Mountain West's best defender in reigning two-time defender of the year Haley Palmer and four other first-team all-Mountain West selections in Victoria Barba, Kelsey Booth, Carli Johnson and Hannah Keane.
- Keane leads the team in goals (12) and points (28), and is tied for second on the team in assists with four. Barba and Johnson share runner-up honors in goals scored with three apiece. Barba, meanwhile, has a team-best five assists, with Booth tying for second with four helpers. Not to be forgotten is Palmer, who has two goals and three assists from her backline position.
- At the end of the Aztecs' championship run through the MW tournament, Barba, Keane, Sophie Metz and Melanie Vaughn were named to the all-tourney team, with Keane earning most-valuable-player honors. In the tournament, Keane scored two game-winners, Barba had a goal and an assist, and Metz had a crucial goal in the win over Boise State. Vaughn, competing in her first MW tournament, was stellar in net, allowing just two goals and pocketing a shutout.
Opponent Notebook
UCLA
The Bruins have won four straight and are unbeaten in 15 straight, going 13-0-2 during that stretch... UCLA's only loss occurred to No. 1 North Carolina son Sept. 6... Darian Jenkins leads the team with 11 goals and 26 points... Taylor Smith is second on the team in points with 20 (5g, 10a)... Sarah Killion has 10 assists on the year... Katelyn Rowland is the starting goalkeeper (0.31 GAA).