SAN DIEGO – San Diego State finished on the short end of a 3-0 decision in its game vs. eighth-ranked UCLA Sunday night before a crowd of 1,314 at SDSU Sports Deck. The contest was the Aztecs' final non-conference match of the season.
SDSU spent a majority of the evening on defense as the Bruins pressured early and often. Even with the constant attack, the Aztecs stayed even with their guests for nearly 30 minutes. The scoreless affair, however, ended in the 28th minute when Hailie Mace connected on a shot from eight yards out off a pass from Anika Rodriguez.
San Diego State weathered the storm and appeared to be headed into the intermission down by just one goal, but Karina Rodriguez found the back of the net 46 seconds before the halftime horn to double UCLA's advantage. Mace was credited with the assist.
When play resumed, the Bruins scored once more before the crowd had settled for the second half. Delanie Sheehan posted an unassisted goal at the 45:27 mark to extend UCLA's lead. As for the Aztecs, they struggled to find a rhythm offensively, but the backline continued to fend off the Bruin attack for the balance of the game and prevented them from adding to their lead.
NOTE
San Diego State drew a season-high 1,314 fans to the game. It was the largest crowd the Aztecs have played before since Oct. 7, 2016, at UNLV when 1,723 fans attended that contest. As for home games, it was SDSU's largest attendance figure since Aug. 19, 2016, when it welcomed UCLA (2,079).
QUOTE
"I'm disappointed in the result, to some degree, and just where we're at for the non-conference portion of our schedule. I'm really excited with where our team is at in terms of our growth with such a young group. The nice part about college soccer is you get to start over again and that's exactly what we're going to do this weekend with two conference games, one here and one on the road. There will be much different challenges than we've faced over the last month and a half, but I'm excited to see where the team is at. We feel like we have grown a tremendous amount and are going to compete for another championship." – head coach Mike Friesen
UP NEXT
The Aztecs open Mountain West action this Friday when they play host to Wyoming atop SDSU Sports Deck. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT and admission is free.
SDSU Women’s Soccer Falls to No. 8 UCLA
