San Diego, Calif. – The San Diego State women's soccer team played very disciplined defense against the California Golden Bears but allowed a pair of second half goals en route to a 0-2 decision on Sunday on the Sports Deck.
Despite California controlling the run of play for most of the match, the Aztecs didn't make things easy. They played their best defensive game so far this season, jumping into the passing lanes and never allowing the Golden Bears any easy opportunities.
In the first half, Cal (3-0-0) outshot the Aztecs 13-to-2, but it was SDSU which generated the most dangerous chance.
In the 29th minute, freshman Macy Horn stole the ball in the team's defensive zone. She played a throughball into the offensive end which Malia Kaleiohi, who slipped behind the defensive, ran onto about 30 yards out. The Bears keeper rushed to cut down Kaleiohi angle and at the top of the 18 just got a piece of the ball and deflected it outside the far post. It would end up being San Diego State's best opportunity to score and the teams went to the half tied, 0-0.
Through injuries, which occurred during the match, several San Diego State (1-3-0) reserves saw significant minutes and one, Abbie Rieder, made her collegiate debut.
"The way that our schedule sets up, it is hard to get new players into the game in difficult moments," said head coach Mike Friesen. "So, in situations where injuries occur it forces us to play some of those kids and I thought everyone that came in gave great efforts and followed the game plan. In terms of minutes and first experiences, Macy (Horn), McKenna (Wallace) and Abbie (Rieder) did a good job. Lauren (Dicus) played in a couple of different positions as did Malia (Kaleiohi), and they really performed well."
In the second half, the Golden Bears took advantage of two chances.
In the 56th minute, Cal had a corner kick. Mia Corbin took the corner put into the box were Emily Smith redirected it onto the boot of Paige Matayer. Matayer shot in low to keeper Brooke Lisowski's right to put the Golden Bears a 1-0 advantage.
In the 82nd minute, Emma Westin and Corbin completed a give and go at the top of the 18. Westin shot to the right side of the goal to make it 2-0, which would be the final score.
In addition to Kaleiohi, Jessica Sanders had the other SDSU shot. Lisowski (1-3-0) surrendered two goals and made a season-high four saves.
California's offense, which finished with a 24-to-2 advantage in shots, was paced by five attempts from Westin. Angelina Anderson (3-0-0) earned the clean sheet victory in goal.
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"I feel that today's defensive performance, from a tactical standpoint, was one of the better I've seen from any team I've coached," said head coach Mike Friesen. "In the past we've tried to do that and were just not committed enough to do the things needed to be done. I thought we controlled the spaces that they were playing in and limited their opportunities to just a few. It is unfortunate to not get a result, but (Cal) is a very good team. They created some chances and finished them. Congrats to them, but I thought we played very well.
"One of the things that has happened over the past few weeks, is that they are starting to understand what we are asking of them and fully committing to it. If you only commit part way you end up creating huge gaps. Today especially, was a game where we were asking them to do something, we haven't done in our other games and to be able to still press, but in a different space. It just says so much about this team that they did what we asked and played really well."
UP NEXT
The Aztecs are scheduled to return to action next Saturday in Coral Gables, Florida. SDSU takes on the University of Miami with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (ET) in the Hurricanes' Cobb Stadium.
Women's Soccer Drops 2-0 Decision To Cal
