SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women's soccer team, the 3-seed, opens the 2021 Mountain West Championship on Monday afternoon in a quarterfinal match against 6-seed Boise State on the Broncos home field in Boise, Idaho.
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2021 Mountain West Championship - Quarterfinal Round
[3] San Diego State (7-10-2) at [6] Boise State (10-6-3)
Monday, Nov. 1 | 2 p.m. (MT) | Boas Soccer Complex | Boise, Idaho
Mountain West Network / Live Stats
AZTEC NOTES
San Diego State enters the Mountain West tournament as the 3-seed and will play 6-seed Boise State at 2 p.m. MT, in the second quarterfinal match on Monday, Nov. 1.
San Diego State's five Mountain West crowns are the most by any current member and rank second in conference history, trailing only Brigham Young's seven. In 20 previous MW tournaments, San Diego State has compiled a 20-12-5 (.608) overall record and is the only current program with a .600-plus winning percentage in the event. UNLV ranks second at .517 (12-11-6).
The Aztecs 20-12-5 (.608) record in the Mountain West Tournament is the best among any current member and is the second highest in the league's history (BYU, 19-4-1 - .813).
San Diego State has been the 3-seed in the MW Championship on four previous occasions: in 2000, 2004, 2010 and 2016. As the 3-seed, the Aztecs have a 6-3-2 record, have reached the semifinal round in each of those four years, and the championship match twice (2004 & 2016). In the 2004 championship match, following a 0-0 draw vs. Utah, SDSU lost 4-3 on PKs, and in 2016, San Diego State again lost 4-3 on PKs following a 3-3 draw vs. UNLV.
As a 3-seed in the quarterfinal round, San Diego State is 4-0-0 and has not surrendered a goal in any of those contests. It has outscored its opponents 11-0 in the round, including a 2-0 decision over Boise State on Nov. 1, 2016, the last time it played on the opening day of the tournament.
San Diego State has played a quarterfinal match on 10 occasions in the 20 previous times it has competed in the Mountain West Championship. In those games, it has a 6-3-1 mark and has advanced to the semifinal round six times.
The Aztecs and Broncos have met in the MW tournament four previous times with San Diego State holding a 3-1-0 advantage. The teams have met once in the quarterfinal, a 2-0 Aztecs victory in 2016, once in the semifinal, a 1-0 win in 2017, and have split a pair of championship game matchups, a 1-0 SDSU triumph in 2013 and a 0-2 loss in 2019.
The last meeting between San Diego State and Boise State, in the Mountain West tournament, was a 0-2 decision in Boise on Nov. 9, 2019. The Aztecs and Broncos put 16 and 15 shots on the board, but two and five in shots on goal, respectively.
With the regular season now complete, the Aztecs have won nine of the last 17 MW trophies (regular season and tournament), all of which have come under the direction of head coach Mike Friesen. In total, the 15th-year head coach has guided San Diego State to ten conference titles, and San Diego State has earned 11 Mountain West titles since the conference's inception in 1999. SDSU was the regular season champions in 1999, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019. The program was the tournament champion in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017, and its five tournament titles are the most among current members of the league and the second best in the league's history (BYU, 7).
In his 15th campaign leading the Mountain West's most dominant women's soccer program, head coach Mike Friesen has guided his squad to ten Mountain West championships (five tournament and five regular season), and five NCAA Tournament appearances, each the most among any current league head coach. Having just completed his 15th season of conference play, Friesen has a 94-30-15 record. His 94 league victories are the most by any head coach in Mountain West history (the inaugural season of the MW was in 1999).
Sophomore keeper Alexa Madueno (So. GK, Woodland, Calif.) has earned two Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors this season. She entered this week leading the MW in shutouts (6) and saves per game (5.14), and is No. 2 in saves (72). Nationally, despite missing the last five games, she ranks No. 62, 69 and 93 in those categories, respectively.
Freshman striker Denise Castro (Fr., MF, San Ysidro, Calif.) leads the 2021 Aztecs with eight goals. Since the 2000 season, her eight tallies rank No. T-3 on the program's freshman goals list (a list of the top five is on the bottom of page 2). The San Diego State record for freshman scoring is shared by Leah Pruitt and Mia Root, who scored 10 goals in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
After battling to get healthy for most of the season, Anna Toohey (Sr., F. Winston-Salem, N.C.) may be returning to the form that earned her MW Newcomer of the Year last season. In the last six matches, Toohey has scored three times, including a pair of game winners, in overtime at UNLV (10/8) and vs. Air Force (10/21) and assisted on another at Nevada (10/10). The Winston-Salem, N.C., native leads the Aztecs with 4 assists and ranks second with 3 goals.
Boise State and San Diego State have met 17 times since the series began in the 2011 season, and the Aztecs hold a 10-6-0 advantage in the all-time series. In games played on the Broncos home field, San Diego State has posted a 4-3-0 mark, including a 2-2-0 mark in the last four games there. In the last matchup in Boise, on Aug. 9, 2021, the Aztecs came away with a 1-0 decision on a Chloe Frisch goal in the 51st minute. In the SDSU road wins at Boise State, the Aztecs have outscored the Broncos 5-0, but in its three losses has been beaten on the scoreboard 6-2.
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