SAN DIEGO – Coming off its most impressive offensive performance of the year, a 3-0 decision against San Diego, the San Diego State women's soccer team hosts the UCLA Bruins on Sunday night in the finale of its non-conference schedule.
NEXT UP
San Diego State (2-5-0) vs. No. 3 UCLA (7-0-0)
Sunday, Sept. 19 | 6 p.m. (PT) | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
AZTEC NOTES
After snapping a five-game skid, the second longest winless streak in program history, with a 3-0 decision at San Diego last Friday night, the Aztecs wrap up non-conference action hosting the UCLA Bruins on Sunday evening at the SDSU Sports Deck. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT.
The series against UCLA began in 1992 and the last matchup came in 2018. The Aztecs and Bruins have played 17 times with UCLA dominating the series with a 15-1-1 advantage, including an 8-1-1 mark in games played in San Diego. San Diego State is 0-5-0 in its last five games against the Bruins on the Sports Deck and has been outscored 19-1 in those games.
With a hat trick at San Diego (9/10), Denise Castro (Fr., MF/F, San Ysidro, Calif.) was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week for the week of Sept. 6. Of the four hat tricks recorded by Mountain West players this season, hers is the only by a freshman. In addition, it is the 11th time a freshman has recorded a hat trick in Mountain West history and the first since the 2016 season.
Following her second clean sheet of the season and the fifth of her collegiate career, Alexa Madueno (So., GK, Woodland, Calif.) was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 6. Madueno faced 14 shots at San Diego (9/10) and turned away all five which reached her line.
Denise Castro (Fr., MF/F, San Ysidro, Calif.), who leads the side with five goals, has been called up to the U-20 Mexican National Team and will miss the team's game against UCLA. She will compete in a pair of friendlies against The Netherlands on Sept. 18 & 21 in Oldensaal, Holland. Castro will be the first active Aztec women's soccer player to compete for a national team since the start of the Friesen era (2007-present).
With a hat trick, Denise Castro (Fr., MF/F, San Ysidro, Calif.) provided all the scoring the Aztecs needed in a 3-0 decision at San Diego (9/10). The hat trick was the 13th in program history and the fourth by a freshman in the now 33-year history of the program.
Through seven matches this season, Alexa Madueno (So., GK, Woodland, Calif.) has recorded 49 saves, blowing past her total of 35 saves in 11 contests last season. She is averaging 7.0 saves per game in 2021. If you extrapolate that out to the team's 19 regular-season games, Madueno would total 133 saves, 37 more than the program's current single-season record of 106, which was set by Aubree Southwick in the 2007 season.
At the start of the week, Alexa Madueno (So., GK, Woodland, Calif.) was No. T-8 in the nation in saves (49) and ranks No. T-17 in saves per game (7.00). She leads the Mountain West in each of those categories, as well as being No. T-2 in shutouts (2) & No. 4 in save percentage (.754).
When head coach Mike Friesen put together this season's non-conference schedule, he knew it would be challenging, but here is the breakdown entering this week's action. The Aztecs eight non-conference opponents own a 40-15-6 record (.705), four of the eight are currently ranked or receiving votes in the national poll, three are from what are considered Power-5 conferences, and all but one of the eight opponents has a .500 or better record.
With its 3-0 decision at San Diego (9/10), San Diego State snapped a five-game slide, the longest winless streak for the program since head coach Mike Friesen took control of the program in 2007, covering 292 games. In the program's 33 years of existence (632 games played entering this weekend's match), the longest winless streak is a six-games in the 2000 campaign.
Head coach Mike Friesen's 160 victories (160-99-33) since the start of the 2007 season, the year he took control of the program, are the most by any current coach in the MW and rank second in league history (Jennifer Rockwood, BYU, 190 victories). Colorado College's Geoff Bennett's 145 victories in the last 14 seasons ranks second among current MW head coaches.
-SDSU-
Aztecs Host No. 3 UCLA In Non-Conference Finale
