Sept. 27, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Release
Game Week Preview
San Diego State (4-5; 2-0 MW) at Fresno State (5-5; 0-2 MW)
Friday, Sept. 30 | 7 p.m. PT | Mountain West Network | Soccer and Lacrosse Field | Fresno, Calif.
San Diego State (4-5; 2-0 MW) at San José State (5-2-3; 2-0 MW)
Sunday, Oct. 2 | Noon PT | Mountain West Network | Spartan Soccer Field | San Jose, Calif.
Storylines
- San Diego State, playing its best soccer of the season, travels north to face Fresno State and San José State this week. The Aztecs will look to extend their winning streak to three games on Friday when they play the Bulldogs before continuing north to face the Spartans on Sunday.
- The Aztecs have won four of their last five games, all of which have come by shutout. San Diego State swept through its Mountain West-opening weekend by defeating Air Force, 2-0, and Colorado College, 1-0, at SDSU Sports Deck. The victories gave the Aztecs a 3-1 record on their season-long four-game homestand. The one blemish was a 1-0 loss to No. 24/23 Texas Tech, which was aided by an own goal.
- The two shutouts over the weekend extended San Diego State's streak of not allowing an opponent to score to 484:21. The shutout streak reaches back to the final 34:21of the game at No. 16/12 Penn State and runs through the Colorado College contest.
- In the win over Air Force, the Aztecs received a pair of goals from junior Aliyah Utush. The forward, who had six goals and six assists last season, recorded her first goal of the year in the fifth minute off a feed from senior Victoria Barba. Utush added an insurance goal in the 59th minute when redshirt freshman goalkeeper Gabby English and true freshman Ariana Robles teamed up on a passing sequence that led to the second goal of the game.
- Two days later against Colorado College, sophomore Milan Moses provided the only goal on what was a hot and sluggish afternoon at SDSU Sports Deck. The game had a methodic pace to it, but Moses excited the crowd with a left-footed strike that found the upper right corner from 23 yards out. The goal was her first of the season and was assisted by senior Dani DeRosa.
- Gabby English also provided some exciting plays between the posts, denying back-to-back strikes less than three seconds apart from inside 10 yards, which helped protect San Diego State's 1-0 lead. She later made a diving stop to the far post and with 10 seconds left, smothered one last shot in a one-on-one situation to secure the victory.
- For her two shutouts, seven saves and one assist, Gabby English was named on Monday the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. The award is the first of her career and the first of the season for San Diego State. She is the first Aztec goalkeeper to win the award since Rachel Boaz earned it on Aug. 20, 2012.
- San Diego State's offense is clicking on all cylinders after beginning the season with zero goals in the first four games. During its 4-1 stretch, SDSU has averaged 1.4 goals and 13.6 shots. When was it looking at a 0-4 record heading into the Cornell game, the Aztecs had yet to score and was averaging only 7.5 shots per outing.
- SDSU is 1-3 on the road this season and won its last time out, a 1-0 victory at Cornell. Historically, however, the Aztecs have been very good away from campus during the regular season vs. Mountain West competition. San Diego State has won five such games in a row and 13 of the last 14. Since the start of 2011 campaign, SDSU is 21-2 in MW regular-season road games and 26-4 since 2009.
- The Aztecs look to improve upon their 11-2 all-time record vs. Fresno State. San Diego State has not lost to the Bulldogs since a road game back in 2000. Since the setback, SDSU has won five straight, including all four since Fresno State has been a member of the Mountain West. During the five-game winning streak, San Diego State has outscored FS by a cumulative score of 11-5.
- SDSU is 9-1-1 all-time vs. San José State with the blemishes coming in the first game back in 1994 in San Jose (L, 1-2) and in last year's Mountain West championship game in San Diego (3ot-T, 1-1). The Aztecs won the regular-season meeting last season in San Diego, 2-1, before falling in penalty kicks in the conference final. In 11 all-time meetings, San Diego State has only allowed five Spartan goals.
Opponent Notebook
Fresno State
The Bulldogs are off to an 0-2 conference start following road losses at Nevada and UNLV last week... Fresno State returns home, a place where it was won its last three games after dropping the first two of the year... Myra Delgadillo leads Fresno State with five goals, five assists and 15 points... The Bulldogs have used three different goalkeepers with Nicole Theroux (1.79 GAA) and Alex Best (1.98 GAA) seeing most of the action.
San José State
The Spartans are unbeaten in their last five (3-0-2) and swept through the MW's Nevada schools last weekend... SJSU is 2-0-2 at home this season and most recently defeated Portland State, 5-1, on Sept. 18... Gabriela Hererra and Dorthe Hoppius each have two goals, two assists and six points to lead the team... Paige Simoneau has started all nine games and has a GAA of 0.53... Ana Calero has also seen action in goal (3 games, 1 start) and has a GAA of 0.60.