Sept. 21, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Notes
Game Week Preview
Air Force (4-2-1; 0-0 MW) at San Diego State (2-5; 0-0 MW)
Friday, Sept. 23 | 7 p.m. PT | Mountain West Network | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
Colorado College (4-4; 0-0 MW) at San Diego State (2-5; 0-0 MW)
Sunday, Sept. 25 | Noon PT | Mountain West Network | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
Storylines
- San Diego State, preseason favorites to win the Mountain West, open conference play this week when Air Force and Colorado College visit Montezuma Mesa. The Aztecs and Falcons will share the pitch on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and then welcome the Tigers on Sunday at noon PT. Both games will stream on GoAztecs.com via the Mountain West Network.
- The Aztecs split a pair of home games last week, beating Weber State, 3-0, and losing on an own goal to No. 24/23 Texas Tech, 1-0. SDSU's games with Air Force and Colorado College wrap up a season-long four-game homestand before heading out on its second four-game road swing of the year.
- San Diego State's victory over Weber State last Thursday gave the Aztecs their first winning streak of the season. SDSU's second straight win was punctuated by goals from Angela Mitchell, Jen Rupey and Rachel Speros, and a second consecutive shutout from Gabby English.
- The Aztecs carried the momentum of their winning streak into their game with the Red Raiders, but were instead stuck to deal with a fifth loss after the own goal. Despite the disappointment of the outcome, San Diego State left SDSU Sports Deck feeling good about its effort after outshooting Texas Tech, 13-7, and putting two more shots on target (5-3).
- San Diego State's game vs. TTU capped a three-game stretch where the Aztecs resembled the Aztecs who were picked to win the Mountain West back in August. Entering this week's games, SDSU has averaged 16.0 shots over the last three outings compared to its 7.5 average in the first four games of the season.
- Not only has San Diego State's offense been more dangerous, its defense has been equally as impressive. SDSU has not allowed an opponent to score in the last 304:21, which covers the final 34:21 of the Penn State game and full contests at Cornell, vs. Weber State and vs. Texas Tech.
- SDSU heads into league action playing its best soccer of the season and against competition it has dominated over the last four years, each of which has ended with the Aztecs raising the regular-season trophy. During this four-year stretch, San Diego State has posted a regular-season MW record of 35-4. Reach back a couple more years and SDSU has a record of 49-7-3 vs. Mountain West opposition in the regular season beginning with the 2009 campaign.
- The Aztecs are looking to start the conference season off on a good note at a place where very few Mountain West teams have won. San Diego State is riding a five-game regular-season home winning streak vs. league foes and is 18-2 against the same competition since the start of 2012.
- SDSU will look to improve upon the aforementioned MW numbers with the other 11 teams trying to dethrone them following the August announcement of the preseason coaches' poll. The Aztecs were picked to win the league, earning 119 points and nine first-place votes. San José State picked up the other three first-place tallies and finished in second with 102 points. This week's foes, AFA and CC, were picked 10th (34 points) and sixth (76 points), respectively.
- San Diego State is 8-5-4 in Mountain West openers and will look to get back on the winning track after dropping the first game of league action last season at Boise State. In conference openers that have occurred at home, the Aztecs are 3-0-1 since 2009 and 5-2-2 since the inception of the MW in 1999.
-SDSU and Air Force will be playing for the 21st time in series history with the Aztecs leading, 18-1-1. San Diego State has won nine straight, including last year's 1-0 road win, and is unbeaten in its last 15 (14-0-1). AFA's lone win came in 2001 at home.
- The Aztecs and Tigers have a brief series history despite it dating back to 1992. San Diego State is 4-1-2 against Colorado College and is 3-0-1 since the Tigers became a member of the Mountain West in time for the 2014 season. The teams have met in the regular season and in the conference tournament semifinals the last two seasons.
Opponent Notebook
Air Force
The Falcons come to America's Finest City riding a two-game winning streak after wins last week over Northern Arizona and UMass Lowell... Air Force has won four of its last five contests... AFA is 2-0 on the road this year with victories at Green Bay and Weber State... Brooke Rittmann leads the teams in goals (4) and points (9)... Jennifer Hiddink (0.81 GAA) and Alex Kahalley (1.14 GAA) have nearly played equal minutes in net... Hiddink has played 335 minutes, while Kahalley has logged 315.
Colorado College
The Tigers split two games last week, beating UMass Lowell and losing to Northern Arizona in overtime... Colorado College is 2-3 over its last five and is 1-3 away from Colorado Springs... Clara Richter is the team leader in goals (5) and points (10)... Tanner Haughn owns a team-high two assists... Molly Hiniker (1.50 GAA) has seen a majority of time in net, logging 541:08 between the pipes... Rowan Frederiksen has also seen time at goalkeeper, playing 188:28 with a GAA of 0.96.