March 21, 2018
SAN DIEGO -
Game Week Preview
No. 21 San Diego State (8-12; 1-1 GCC) at T-No. 25 Azusa Pacific (12-10; 1-1 GCC) - 5 p.m. PT
Friday, March 23 | Citrus Aquatic Center | Glendora, Calif.
Cal State Monterey Bay (4-14) at No. 21 San Diego State (8-12) - 5 p.m. PT
Saturday, March 24 | Aztec Aquaplex | San Diego, Calif.
Storylines
- No. 21 San Diego State will play back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday against conference foe T-No. 25 Azusa Pacific on the road and Cal State Monterey Bay at home. Both contests are set for 5 p.m. PT starts.
- The Aztecs return to action looking to snap a two-game skid after a road loss at No. 7 UC Irvine last Friday and a home defeat to No. 17 Princeton on Monday. Over its last six games, SDSU is an even 3-3, including a 3-2 effort at Aztec Aquaplex.
- San Diego State is playing its first Golden Coast Conference game on Friday since a March 9 home loss to 12th-ranked LMU. The 5-2 defeat was the Aztecs' first GCC loss in 28 tries (27-1). The matchup with Azusa Pacific will pit two of the league's three teams that sit at 1-1 against each other with Santa Clara being the third.
- Friday's game between San Diego State and APU, which will be played at Citrus College, will have implications on staying alive in the conference regular-season title race. LMU enters this week's action at 2-0, while Pacific and California Baptist are both 1-0. At 4 p.m. PT on Friday, Loyola Marymount and UOP will face off in Los Angeles. CBU will face the Tigers in Riverside on Saturday at noon PT.
- SDSU is the four-time defending Golden Coast regular-season champion and will play five of its next seven games against league foes. Against the remaining quintet, San Diego State is 8-0 in conference matchups at the location this season's games will be played (2-0 at Azusa Pacific, 2-0 vs. California Baptist, 0-0 vs. Fresno State, 2-0 at Pacific, 2-0 at Santa Clara).
- The contest vs. Cal State Monterey Bay represents one of three non-conference games left on San Diego State's schedule. Following its date with the Otters, SDSU will head to Morro Bay to face California next Wednesday and wrap up its regular-season slate at UC San Diego with the Harper Cup on the line (April 20).
- Last week at UC Irvine, Emily Bennett recorded one goal and five steals, and drew three ejections. It marked her season-best fifth straight game with at least one goal and her five thefts were one shy of her career high set at Concordia. Bennett, however, had her goal-scoring streak stopped vs. Princeton, but added one steal, two ejections drawn and a field block.
- Bennett leads the Aztecs in nearly every category heading into Friday's game at Azusa Pacific. The freshman from Oakdale is the team leader in shot attempts (96), goals (33), assists (11; tied), steals (39), ejections drawn (39), multi-goal games (12), hat tricks (3; tied), multi-assist games (3) and multi-steal games (10). She also ranks second in field blocks with 15.
- Bennett has nine guaranteed opportunities left in her inaugural season and is approaching levels of two recently graduated players in Caroline Israels and Alyssa Diacono. Israels finished her career ranked fourth all-time in school history with 242 goals and tallied 51 as a freshman in 2014. Diacono, meanwhile, finished second in program history with 292 ejections drawn and had 50 as a frosh in `14. Bennett has 33 goals and 39 ejections drawn to her credit.
- The Aztecs face an Azusa Pacific program they have never lost to in five tries. San Diego State is 2-0 all-time in road games vs. the Cougars. Of the five meetings, SDSU has won by an average of 4.4 goals and only once has a game been decided by one goal (2015).
- San Diego State is 2-0 all-time vs. Cal State Monterey Bay, but Saturday's game will be the first between the two teams since 2009. In two games, SDSU has won by a combined score of 39-11.
Opponent Notebook
Azusa Pacific
Azusa Pacific is 12-10 on the season and 1-1 in the Golden Coast... The Cougars are 3-1 in their last four and 4-2 in their last six outings... Before dropping its last game, a 15-7 road decision to Pacific, APU defeated Cal State Monterey Bay (18-8) in Hayward, Cal State East Bay (10-6) on the road and first-time GCC member Fresno State (9-8) in the central valley... Britt Harris leads the Cougars with 37 goals and five others have at least 21 goals... Erica Marquez has started 21 games in net (8.27 GAA).
Cal State Monterey Bay
The Otters are 4-14 (0-3 WWPA) and have dropped four consecutive games... During its skid, Cal State Monterey Bay has been on the wrong side of the score at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-5), at Cal State East Bay (13-8), vs. Azusa Pacific at CSEB (18-8) and at home vs. Sonoma State (10-7)... Marisa Lovos leads the Otters with 24 goals and Angela Steele ranks second with 21... Shelby Stephens has received the starting nod in all 18 games at goalkeeper and has a GAA of 10.48.