SAN DIEGO - San Diego State women's soccer wrap up their home schedule this week with two more home matches on the SDSU SportsDeck. The Aztecs will play Nevada on senior night on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT and then UNLV on Sunday at noon PT.
Senior Spotlight
- SDSU heads into the match on a three-match winning streak, have won four out of their last five contests and are unbeaten in their last five matches a well (4W, 1T).
- San Diego State is 12-1-0 against Nevada, are 7-0-0 all-time at home, and boast an impressive .923 win percentage all. SDSU is also 10-1-0 under head coach Mike Friesen.
- As for UNLV, SDSU is 18-10-2 all-time against the Rebels, and at home the Aztecs have posted a 10-3-1 record against the Rebels at home.
- During conference play as a whole, 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
- San Diego State went a perfect 2-0 last week as the Aztecs took down both San Jose State at Snapdragon Stadium 2-0, and beat Fresno State 1-0 to take all six possible points. In front of 2,546 on Thursday at Snapdragon Stadium the Aztecs got a late goal from Emma Gaines-Ramos to seal the 2-0 win. SDSU also beat Fresno State on Sunday courtesy of a perfect free kick from Trinity Coker to earn the hard fought 1-0 win.
- The Aztecs were up at altitude to take on Colorado College and Air Force this two weeks ago and took home four points from the two matches. San Diego State tied with Colorado College 3-3, after being down 3-0 after the first 35 minutes, and then beat Air Force 2-1 to earn their second MW win of the campaign.
- Emma Gaines-Ramos earned MW Player of the Week for her four assist performance against Colorado College and Air Force. The junior from San Diego had two assists against each squad and is now up to six assists on the year heading into the San Jose State match. Denise Castro also scored twice over the weekend, bringing her tally to seven on the season, which is tops on the squad.
- In late September 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.
- In mid-September, 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 last Friday 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.
- The Aztecs earned two hard fought draws on Thursday and Sunday 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.
At The Peak
- San Diego State has multiple players in the top-10 in the conference in a variety of categories. Denise Castro currnetly leads the conference in total game-winning goals with three, while she is also second in the conference in total points with 17, tied for second in goals scored with 7, and is tied for fourth in the conference in shots on goal with 16.
- Emma Gaines-Ramos is also among the leaders in the MW Conference. She ranks first in assists with six, third in total points with 16, third in shots on goal with 17 and tied for fourth in goals with five.
Shot Stopper
- Junior keeper Alexa Madueno has moved into the top-10 all-time in career saves this season. Madueno has played in 40 matches and stopped 182 shots in her career, including 51 so far this season, putting her seventh all-time in career saves.
Aztecs Host UNLV on Sunday Afternoon
