SAN DIEGO - San Diego State women's soccer hits the road for two Mountain West Conference matchups this week. The Aztecs will play at Colorado College at 6 p.m. MT on Thursday, before facing the Air Force Academy at 1 p.m. MT on Sunday.
Up at Altitude
• Against Colorado College, the Aztecs are 6-3-3 all-time, 2-2-0 away, and under head coach Mike Friesen the Aztecs are 5-2-2 against the Tigers. As for the Air Force Academy, San Diego State is 22-1-1 all-time against the Falcons, 10-1-0 on the road, and 14-0-0 under Friesen.
• San Diego State has reached eight of the last nine Mountain West Tournament Championship matches, and has advanced to the NCAA tournament in four of those seasons. 2021 was the only season that the Aztecs did not reach the MW tournament final in those nine seasons.
• SDSU has been widely successful in the Mountain West Conference. Since the Aztecs joined the conference in 1999 San Diego State boasts a .675 winning percentage, and an overall record of 116--50-23. Additionally, under Friesen the Aztecs have a .723 winning percentage and an overall record of 93-31-15.
The Season So Far
• Last week SDSU opened conference play against Colorado State and Wyoming. The Aztecs fell in the conference opener against Colorado State, 2-0. That was followed by a bounce-back game for SDSU, who ran out with a 2-1 win over Wyoming on Sunday. Emma Gaines-Ramos scored her fourth goal of the season to give the Aztecs a 1-0, before the Cowgirls equalized in the 59th minute. Kiera Utush then scored the game-winner in the 80th minute to give the Aztecs the win.
• Two weeks ago, the Aztecs traveled north to Los Angeles, where they took on the No. 1 ranked UCLA Bruins. San Diego State fell 2-0 in the match, courtesy of a UCLA goal at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half. Alexa Madueno made eight saves in the SDSU goal that night.
• San Diego State earned their third draw in a row two weeks ago when they played Saint Mary's to a 2-2 draw on the Sports Deck. In rainy conditions the Aztecs got goals from Deinse Castro and a penalty by Gaines-Ramos to earn a point. The match was the team's third consecutive draw, and is the first time in team history that SDSU has drawn three times in a row.
• Prior to that, the Aztecs earned two hard fought draws against cross-town foes University of San Diego and UC San Diego. On Thursday, the Aztecs and Toreros squared off, but neither team was able to find the back of the net and the teams finished level at 0-0. Claire Watkins hit the post twice in the draw, while Denise Castro was sent off late in the match and the Aztecs had to play with 10 for the final 20 minutes.
• Against UC San Diego, the Aztecs went down 1-0 at the halftime break. But goals from Logan Nidy and a penalty from Kiera Utush 44 seconds apart gave the Aztecs a 2-1 lead in the 58th minute. However, the Tritons would equalize in the 89th minute to earn the 2-2 draw.
• The Aztecs also drew at Long Beach State on Aug. 25, 2-2. With the Aztecs down 2-0 in the 82nd minute, Castro and Trinity Coker got San Diego State level in the final minutes as the Aztecs stole a draw on the road. Coker's game-tying goal was the first of her career. The Aztecs would then travel to No. 14 Pepperdine on Aug. 28 and fell 4-0 in Malibu, Calif.
• In the season opener the Aztecs traveled to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers. The Aztecs would come out of the match with a win in dramatic fashion, as Castro earned the Aztecs the win 2-1, in the 90th minute. Off a cross from Lauren Dicus, Castro headed the ball into the back of the net, earning her first game-winner of the season. She also scored the Aztecs first goal of the match in the 28th minute, and finished the night with a brace for the second time in her career.
• As for the match against Idaho, the Aztecs initially trailed 1-0, before marching to a 7-2 win on the Sports Deck. The Aztecs scored five goals in the span of 23 minutes during the first half. Gaines-Ramos scored two goals, including the first penalty of the season. Six Aztecs got on the score sheet, including freshman Logan Nidy and sophomore Olivia Sekimoto who scored their first career goals.
Shot Stopper
• Junior keeper Alexa Madueno has moved into the top-10 all-time in career saves this season. Madueno has played in 35 matches and stopped 166 shots in her career, including 51 so far this season, putting her seventh all-time in career saves.
Sharing The Wealth
• San Diego State scored a total of nine goals in the first two weeks of the season, including putting seven past Idaho on August 28.
• Those seven goals scored against Idaho were the most the Aztecs had scored in a match since the 2008 season when the Aztecs beat the Air Force Academy 7-0.
• The Aztecs have a total of 12 assists through seven matches this season, and nine different players have assisted on those goals.
• Denise Castro, Emma Gaines-Ramos, and Rachelle Elve all have two assists, Trinity Coker, Lauren Dicus, Olivia Sekimoto, Grace Goins, Hope Paredes and Kiera Utush have one.
Aztecs at Air Force Sunday Afternoon
