Oct. 21, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Notes
Game Week Preview
San Diego State (11-4; 7-1 MW) at Air Force (4-11-1; 2-5-1 MW)
Friday, Oct. 23 | 6 p.m. MT | Mountain West Network | Cadet Soccer Stadium | USAFA, Colorado
San Diego State (11-4; 7-1 MW) at Colorado College (7-9-1; 5-3 MW)
Sunday, Oct. 25 | Noon MT | Mountain West Network | Stewart Field | Colorado Springs, Colorado
Storylines
- San Diego State looks to tighten its grip on first place in the Mountain West when it travels to Air Force and Colorado College this week. The Aztecs will play at the Academy on Friday at 6 p.m. MT before taking on the Tigers Sunday at noon MT. Both games will stream live at GoAztecs.com via the MW Network.
- SDSU is alone at the top of the Mountain West standings after sweeping Fresno State and San José State by 2-1 margins last week. The pivotal game was the victory over the Spartans, who came into the contest tied atop the leaderboard with the Aztecs at 6-1.
- In order to get to the SJSU game tied for first place, San Diego State needed to get past Fresno State and the Aztecs encountered an uphill battle after allowing a 35th-minute goal. SDSU, however, answered relatively quickly when Jen Rupey fed Leah Pruitt, who found the back of the net. The freshman then provided the winner after she was taken down in the box in the 65th minute. Pruitt converted the PK and the Aztecs went on to win their sixth straight game.
- San Diego State faced a similar scenario against San José State when the Spartans struck first in the fourth minute. But like two days earlier, the Aztecs responded, this time less than a minute later when Rupey and Aliyah Utush hooked up for the equalizing goal. The goal was Utush's fifth of the year. Later in the 56th minute, Milan Moses tapped the ball to Pruitt, who squeezed her shot just inside the near post to lift SDSU. It was Moses' first career helper.
- After scoring three of the Aztecs' four goals, Pruitt was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. The forward now has a team-high eight goals, nine assists and 25 points. Pruitt needs just one assist to tie the school's freshman record, which is held by Erika Sutton (2005), Lori LaCoursiere (1996) and Stefanie Mathews (1995).
- With the two wins last week, the senior trio of Tiffany Geer, Ashley Hauke and Melanie Vaughn has helped the Aztecs emerge victorious 60 times over their career. The win total is tied for the most over any four-year period in school history, matching the 1996-99 teams.
- Rupey has been an assist machine over the last seven games, accumulating five, which leads the Mountain West entering this week's action (conference games only). The total is a career high and is more than she had in the first 45 games of her career (1). Her five points this season also matches a personal-record after she had five in 2014 with two goals and one assist.
- The Aztecs are well into a month where they have had considerable success over the last six seasons. Since the 2009 campaign, San Diego State has posted a record of 42-7-3 (.837) in October. In games at SDSU Sports Deck, the Aztecs are 22-3-3 during the month (.839) and 20-4 away from home (.833).
- San Diego State is set to face an Air Force squad on Friday that it has had considerable success against. The Aztecs have won eight straight in the series, but three of the last five needed overtime, including last year's double-OT 3-2 triumph. SDSU is 13-0-1 in the last 14 meetings with the Falcons and last suffered a defeat in 2001 at the Academy.
- Sunday's matchup will feature the top two teams in the MW preseason coaches poll. The Aztecs earned 119 points and nine of the 12 first-place votes. Colorado College, meanwhile, was second with 109 points and two first-place tallies. SDSU sits atop the league, while the Tigers are in fourth place behind SJSU and New Mexico.
- The Aztecs will take a 2-1-2 all-time record vs. Colorado College into Colorado Springs on Sunday. The Tigers joined the Mountain West last season as an affiliate member and San Diego State welcomed them to the league by defeating them on two occasions. SDSU won the regular-season meeting in San Diego, 3-0, before being forced into a penalty-kick situation in the semifinals of the MW Championship atop SDSU Sports Deck. After 110 minutes, the score was still tied at 1-1 forcing PKs, which the Aztecs won by a 3-2 margin.
Opponent Notebook
Air Force
The Falcons welcome the Aztecs to the Academy having lost four straight... The last time they had two consecutive home games, however, they went 1-1 beating Colorado State and losing to SJSU... Ally Swift leads Air Force in goals and points with six and 12, respectively... Brooke Rittmann leads AFA with four assists... Three goalkeepers have seen action for the Falcons with Alex Kahalley seeing action in nine games... Jennifer Hiddink, meanwhile, has played in seven games and Meghan Strang three.
Colorado College
The Tigers split a road trip last week to Boise State (2-0 win) and Utah State (3-2 loss)... Colorado College was swept on its last homestand when Fresno State and SJSU visited the Colorado Springs campus... Sarah Schweiss leads the team with nine goals and 20 points... Rae Conlon is the top assist earner with four... Louisa Mackenzie is CC goalkeeper having logged every second in between the pipes... She has 71 saves, a GAA of 1.37 and four shutouts.