SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women's soccer enters the Mountain West tournament as the No. 5 seed after a frantic final day of Mountain West regular season play. The Aztecs will be matched up with Utah State, who is the No. 4 seed in the tournament, in the quarterfinal round on Sunday at 4 p.m. MT in Albuquerque, N.M.
Tournament Time
- SDSU heads into the Mountain West tournament having only given up three goals in their final eight matches of the 2022 season. The Aztec backline lead by keeper Alexa Madueno has also posted five shutouts over those eight matches.
- The Aztecs are 8-0-3 all-time against the Aggies and drew 0-0 with them two weeks ago in Logan, Utah. Under head coach Mike Friesen the Aztecs have not lost to the Aggies.
- 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 98-34-17.
The Season So Far
- Despite losing or drawing in their final four matches SDSU enters the MW tournament with one of the best defensive records in the league. The Aztecs gave up less than a goal per game in league play, and posted a 0.82 goals given up per game average throughout conference play.
- SDSU struggled into the three most recent matches at Boise State, at Utah State and at New Mexico. The Aztecs failed to score a goal in any of those contests but still came away with the two points needed to secure a spot in the Mountain West tournament.
- Two weeks ago the Aztecs earned a win over Nevada, 3-0, on the SportsDeck on senior night. Carlin Blake and Emily Lowe scored their first career goals to give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead and a 3-0 lead respectfully. SDSU would then fall to UNLV on Sunday 1-0. In that match the Aztecs had 13 shots but could not find the back of the net.
- Earlier in October, San Diego State went a perfect 2-0 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 at the end of September 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 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 terms of overall stats in the conference in a variety of categories. Denise Castro currently leads the conference in total game-winning goals with three, while she is also fourth in the conference in total points with 18, tied for third in goals scored with 7, and is tied for fifth in the conference in shots on goal with 19.
- Emma Gaines-Ramos is also amongst the leaders in the MW Conference. She ranks first in assists with seven, third in points with 19, tied for fourth in shots on goal with 22, and is tied for fourth in goals with seven.
Shot Stopper
- Junior keeper Alexa Madueno has moved into the top-10 all-time in career saves this season. Madueno has stopped 203 shots in her career, including 88 so far this season, putting her fifth all-time in career saves at San Diego State.
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 24 assists through 19 matches this season, and 11 different players have assisted on those goals.
The Chase For 100
- Head Coach Mike Friesen finished the 2022 campaign with 98 career regular season MW wins at the helm of San Diego State women's soccer. The 16-year MW veteran head coach, who is already the winningest coach all-time in conference history would become the first MW head coach to reach the milestone in the league's history.
Into the History Books
- San Diego State women's soccer, like many programs around the country, saw an uptick in the amount of draws they earned during the 2022 regular season due to the new rule change of no overtime in the regular season in NCAA soccer. The Aztecs posted a program record seven draws in 2022, one more than the previous program record of six which was set in the 2004 campaign.
-SDSU-
Aztecs Begin MW Tournament Play Versus Utah State
