SAN DIEGO – After a successful start to the season with a pair of victories last weekend on the Sports Deck, the San Diego State women's soccer team makes its first road trip of the campaign when it plays at San Jose State and Fresno State this weekend.
THIS WEEK
San Diego State (2-0-0) at San Jose State (0-1-0)
Friday, March 12 | 7:00 (PT) | Spartan Soccer Complex | San Jose, Calif.
San Diego State (2-0-0) at Fresno State (1-0-0)
Sunday, March 14 | 10 a.m. (PT) | Soccer & Lacrosse Field | Fresno, Calif.
SCENE SETTER
San Diego State opened the season with a pair of victories against Nevada (3-2) and preseason co-favorite Boise State (3-1).
The Aztecs have recorded six goals in its first two games. Five different players, Chloe Frisch (Sr., MF, Solana Beach, Calif.), Laura Fuentes (Jr. MF, Newark, Calif.), Phoebe Leitch (Sr., D/MF, Forest Row, England), Jessica Sanders (So. D, San Carlos, Calif.) and Claire Watkins (So, D, San Diego , Calif.), have a goal for SDSU. The initial goal in the Boise State win was an own goal.
With her assist on Jessica Sanders' goal vs. Boise State, Chloe Frisch moved into a tie for eighth on the program's career assist list. Frisch has 16 career assists, on par with Erika Sutton (2005-06) and Hannah Keane (2011-14) and enters the weekend one assist from equaling Kelly Grogg (1996-98) for seventh place with 17.
SDSU's trip to northern and central California will be its first road games of the season and travel in the Mountain West is one of the most challenging aspects of the league. However, SDSU has held its own away from America's Finest City. In the last five season's the Aztecs are 20-22-5 in true road contests.
True freshman Alexa Madueno (Fr., GK, Woodland, Calif.) played and won both games in the opening weekend. She stopped 7 of the 10 shots which reached her line (.700 save %) and has a 1.50 GAA with a 2-0-0 record. Madueno was a two-time All-Tri County Conference (TCC) performer at Pioneer High in Woodland, Calif., and participated in the 2017 ODP national training camp as well as competed for state and regional ODP teams.
OPPONENT NOTEBOOK
San Jose State
The Spartans were predicted to finish fifth in the MW coaches preseason vote... Last season, SJSU posed a 7-9-4 record, 5-4-2 in league action, which included a 3-0 loss to the Aztecs on the Sports Deck... San Jose State lost on its home field 3-1 to Fresno State last week, getting its lone goal from Evan House... A team that struggled to score last season, the Spartans lost 73.3 percent of their goals from last season (11-of-15 goals), but return 8-of-9 assists (88.9 percent)... Sabrina Weinman is the only returner who scored a goal for SJSU last year (4G, 2A - 10 PTS)... Karlee Potorff (3A - 3 PTS) led the team in assists in 2019 and is back as well... Like the Aztecs, San Jose State has two keepers who, prior to this year, had never suited up for their current school, but in the opener neither saw the field. Instead SJSU had forward Sylvia Sloss in the keeper position. Sloss gave up three goals in the first half, but finished with 11 saves and had a clean sheet in the final 45 minutes... The Spartans are coached by Lauren Hanson, who is in her seventh season at the helm of the program and brings a career-record of 56-44-23 into the season and in her eight meetings with the Aztecs, her teams have gone 1-5-2 and been outscored 10-6, but has not scored against SDSU in the last four meetings.
Fresno State
The Bulldogs posted an overall record of 9-7-4, 5-4-2 in conference play in 2019. As the six-seed in the MW Tournament, they defeated Colorado State on PKs in the quarterfinal round and then were defeated by the Aztecs 3-2 in the semifinal... SDSU also beat Fresno State 2-1 on the Sports Deck during the regular season... In a series which began in 1995, San Diego State owns a 13-3-2 record against Fresno State including a 3-3-1 mark in games played in the Central Valley... The Bulldogs went on the road last week and defeated San Jose State 3-1... Fresno State returns Ele Avery (5G, 1A -10 PTS), its leading scorer from a year ago as well as Robyn McCarthy (1G, 7A -9 PTS) who led the side in assists. In goal, Valentina Vivas had a 1.42 GAA and .697 save percentage in 632:04 and posted a 3-2-1 record with one shutout... Brian Zwaschka has a 76-101-36 career record.
Aztecs Face First Road Tests This Weekend
