Sept. 2, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State, which played with 10 players for more than half the game, fell to cross-town foe San Diego, 2-0, at Torero Stadium on Friday night. The loss dropped the Aztecs 0-3 on the season, while USD moved to 2-2.
"The positive coming out tonight was that it was our best performance," head coach Mike Friesen said. "We played how we've played in the past five years; that kind of style came out tonight. We moved the ball well, we out-possessed them and we created more chances in the second half being a man down. So there were a lot of positives.
"I thought we created two great chances and their goalkeeper came up with two big saves so credit goes to them," Friesen added. "They finished two nice goals so you have to hand it to them for winning the game."
The night started with both teams trading possessions at an even pace, but the momentum started to shift as the clocked neared the 20-minute mark. After a Torero corner kick in the 21st minute, Caitlyn Kretschmar found Jacqueline Altschuld, who tickled the twine through traffic from eight yards out.
After more back-and-forth action, the Aztecs enjoyed their best opportunity of the half when Angela Mitchell dribbled through the middle of the box from the left side and a put a shot on goal that was punched out by USD goalkeeper Amber Michel. The golden chance, however, led to a counterattack that bared fruit as Kelley Carusa fed Rachel Conners for the goal as the clock hit 26:00.
Down 2-0, San Diego State kept plugging away, but could not get anything going offensively. With the half winding down and a 50-50 ball at midfield, Mitchell made a tackle and won the ball. Despite the result, Mitchell was hit with a red car, forcing the Aztecs to compete for the next 49:20 down a player.
In the second half, San Diego State was aggressive from the outset as it attempted three shots within the first four minutes. Over the next 11 minutes, SDSU kept the Toreros at bay while Milan Moses put one on target in the 60th minute. The Aztec defense, meanwhile, prevented any type of USD chance until the 63rd minute when Gabby English denied Tori Manfredonia.
As the game progressed, the 10-player San Diego State squad featured as many as six freshmen on the field, including five true freshmen. The group, which was substituted frequently, was still fresh in the later moments of the game as evidenced by a flurry of attempts by Aliyah Utush. The junior sent in a shot from 12 yards out that forced Michel to punch the attempt over the crossbar in the 80th minute. Then off a Victoria Barba corner kick, the ball found Stacie Moran, who sent a service into the middle of the box where Utush zeroed in on a shot to the lower left corner. She, again, was stopped by Michel, and the ball just missed going inside the left post.
The game ended with USD owning an advantage in shots, 12-11, but the Aztecs enjoyed a 6-4 performance in shots on goal.
Individually, Utush and Barba each had three shots, with Utush and Moses putting a team-high two shots on goal. English finished the game with two saves.
"I am really proud of the effort we gave and the intensity we showed throughout the game," Friesen said. "The fight and the resilience were really good. I am excited where this team is going moving forward and we have another tough test coming up going to the defending national champion. We'll see where we are at again, but we're positioning ourselves to be a really good team."
San Diego State returns to action on Friday, Sept. 9, when it travels to face the aforementioned defending national champion, Penn State, at 5:30 p.m. ET.