Oct. 28, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
New Mexico-San Diego State Final Box
San Diego State fell in disappointing fashion, dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to New Mexico on Senior Night. The Aztecs, who dominated in every facet of the game except the one column that counts, fell to 8-7-3 overall and 6-2-3 in the Mountain West. The Lobos, meanwhile, finished their season at 9-7-3 (5-5-1 MW).
"We're disappointed in the result," head coach Mike Friesen said. "I don't think we played our best, but we still created a ton of chances that I thought we should have put away. We hit the crossbar two or three times. One time it hit the underside of the crossbar in overtime and I thought it went in, but who knows. It's just disappointing it ended on a penalty kick and that it wasn't determined on the field, unfortunately."
SDSU created opportunity after opportunity in the opening minutes and it was a preview of things to come. Victoria Barba was the catalyst on offense, but the Aztecs could not put any of their shots away and forced New Mexico goalkeeper Tayler Hammack to make impressive stops.
Despite the constant pressure San Diego State applied, it was UNM that dented the scoreboard first. The Lobos threw the ball into Maddie Irwin, who dribbled along the outer left side of the box before deciding to aim toward the lower right corner. The shot had enough on it to find the back of the net in the 37th minute.
After halftime, the Aztecs wasted little time in leveling the score. After SDSU drew a foul on the Lobos just outside of the box, Barba lined up her shot and fired a missile over the player wall. The shot, which was hammered, split Hammack's hands and the game was tied, 1-1, with 44 minutes to play.
San Diego State continued apply heat on the Lobos backline, but it could not solve their bend-but-not-break defensive unit. The second half ultimately finished with the score unchanged and the Senior Night game continued into the night with overtime.
In the extra period, the Aztecs appeared to find the winner when Aliyah Utush centered a pass to Gemma Craine. The senior banged her shot off the aforementioned bottom of the crossbar and it was ruled that the ball went straight down, giving the Lobos life.
Less than three minutes later, the extra life proved fruitful as SDSU goalkeeper Gabby English was whistled for taking down a New Mexico player as both were pursuing a 50-50 ball. Moments later, in the 97th minute, Brooke Webster scored the game-winner on a penalty kick.
San Diego State attempted 12 shots with nine coming on goal. The Aztecs also enjoyed a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks. The Lobos, meanwhile, had 12 shots and only five on target.
Prior to the game, SDSU honored its seven seniors in Barba, who scored her fifth goal of the season, Craine (3 shots, 1 shot on goal), Meggie Gulczynski, Zsuria Phare (1 shot), Hedda Regefalk (1 shot, 1 shot on goal), Jen Rupey (2 shots, 1 shot on goal) and Morgan Simpson.
San Diego State will now host the Mountain West Championship, which begins on Tuesday. The third-seeded Aztecs will play sixth-seeded Boise State at 7 p.m. PT. The game will stream live on the Mountain West Network.