Sept. 20, 2017
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Notes
Game Week Preview
Nevada (1-7; 0-0 MW) at San Diego State (3-5; 0-0 MW)
Friday, Sept. 22 | 7 p.m. PT | Mountain West Network | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
UNLV (8-1; 0-0 MW) at San Diego State (3-5; 0-0 MW)
Sunday, Sept. 24 | Noon PT | Mountain West Network | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
Storylines
- San Diego State opens the Mountain West season this week with a pair of games vs. schools from the Silver State. The Aztecs play host to Nevada on Friday at 7 p.m. PT before welcoming UNLV to SDSU Sports Deck at noon PT on Sunday. The first 250 fans at Friday's game will receive a free women's soccer #aztecsGRIND t-shirt.
- The Aztecs finished their three-game road trip with a 1-0 loss on Friday at Texas Tech. San Diego State put half of its shot attempts on target (3 of 6), but were outshot in total, 19-10 (10-3 SOG), for the night. The Red Raiders also had 13 cornerkicks, but only three occurred in the second half after SDSU made adjustments at halftime. The Aztecs had two corners for the game, both in the second half.
- San Diego State's offensive attack came from its freshmen and seniors. True freshmen Esther Arnarsdottir, Daniela Filipovic, Chloe Frisch and Mia Root all took one shot, as did seniors Stacie Moran and Aliyah Utush. Arnarsdottir, Frisch and Moran were responsible for the shots on goal, with each having one. Sophomore goalkeeper Gabby English, meanwhile, had a season-high nine saves.
- SDSU begins the conference campaign as the preseason favorite to win the league. The Aztecs for the fifth year in a row were picked to win the regular-season title by the Mountain West's head coaches. San Diego State earned 110 points and three first-place votes, and finished ahead of SJSU (108 points; 3 first-place votes) and Sunday's foe, UNLV, which had 101 points and five first-place considerations. Utah State was the owner of the final first-place tally and was predicted to finish in fourth with 97 points.
- San Diego State looks to continue its winning ways in the Mountain West after capturing four of the last five regular-season titles. Sunday's match-up will feature the team that snapped the Aztecs' championship run in UNLV. SDSU has also won three of the last five MW tournament crowns and reached the final the last two years.
- The last time the Aztecs were at home was back on Sept. 1, which ended in a 3-1 victory over crosstown foe San Diego. SDSU is only 2-2 at home this season, but has been really good vs. Mountain West opponents in recent memory. Since the start of the 2015 campaign, the Aztecs are 9-1 in regular-season home games vs. MW foes and 22-3 since the beginning of 2012.
- In all home games vs. Mountain West teams (regular-season, tournament), the Aztecs are 28-3-3 since the start of the 2012 season.
- San Diego State is facing a Nevada team that it has never lost to in seven tries. Last season, the Aztecs needed double overtime to down the Wolf Pack, 2-1, in Reno. The last time these two teams met in San Diego, SDSU blanked Nevada, 4-0, in 2015. The Aztecs are 4-0 all-time vs. the Pack in America's Finest City and outscored them by a combined score of 12-2.
- SDSU is 14-7-2 all-time vs. UNLV and is unbeaten in its last 10 games (8-0-2). The last two get-togethers, however, both of which occurred last year, ended in a tie. The schools played 110 minutes in Las Vegas and each scored one goal. Then in the conference final, they played to a 3-3 draw, but the Rebels advanced to the NCAA tournament after winning in penalty kicks, 4-3.
- Head coach Mike Friesen enters this week's action with a 13-2-2 combined record vs. Nevada and UNLV. Friesen has coached the Aztecs to a 5-0 record vs. Nevada and an 8-2-2 effort vs. UNLV.
Opponent Notebook
Nevada
The Wolf Pack have lost six straight games and last won on Aug. 20, which was a 3-2 double-overtime victory over Sacramento State... During the six-game skid, Nevada has been outscored, 15-1... The Wolf Pack's last goal came vs. Southern Utah on Sept. 8... Nevada is 0-4 on the road and went 0-2 last week in games at Eastern Washington (L, 0-4) and at Idaho (L, 0-6)... Injuries have hurt Nevada this season so much so that it started the game at Idaho with nine players instead of the usual 11... The Wolf Pack finished the game at Idaho with only seven players... Rachel Gensch leads the team with two goals and four points, but has only played in four of Nevada's eight games... Rylee Peterson leads the Wolf Pack with two assists and has seen action in five games... Lauryn Horstdaniel has played in all eight games so far between the posts and Jamie Flynn has twice logged minutes at goalkeeper, while also playing in the field.
UNLV
The Rebels enter this week's action having won four consecutive games... UNLV's lone loss happened on Sept. 1, at Sacramento State (L, 0-1)... All four victories during the Rebels' winning streak have come by 2-1 scores... UNLV has played four of its last five games on the road, losing at Sacramento State and winning at UC Davis, Northern Arizona and CSU Bakersfield... Last Sunday, the Rebels returned home and defeated UC Riverside... UNLV will play at New Mexico on Friday before heading to San Diego State... Sophie Cortes leads the Rebels with seven goals, four assists and 18 points... Amanda Galbraith (4g, 4a, 12p) and Michaela Cruz (4g, 3 a, 11p), meanwhile, are UNLV's other double-digit point earners... Jordan Sallee has played in all nine games at goalkeeper, posting a goals-against average of 0.76... Elly Reynada has also seen some action at goalkeeper, logging 18:18 in two games.