SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women's soccer players Denise Castro, Emma Gaines-Ramos, Grace Goins, and Kiera Utush garnered All-Mountain West honors on Sunday afternoon. Castro and Gaines-Ramos earned first-team honors, while Utush earned a second-team selection, and Goins was named to the newcomers team.
The awards are based on each player's accomplishments during the 11-game Mountain West regular season slate.
Castro, a sophomore midfielder/forward, earned first-team all-conference honors for the first time in her SDSU career. The MW offensive player of the week for the week of August 22nd, earned six points during conference play. She scored the game winning goal at Air Force to give the Aztecs a 2-1 win, and scored the Aztecs second goal in the 3-3 comeback draw with Colorado College, a match the Aztecs trailed at one point 3-0 in before rallying back to earn a draw with the Tigers. The San Ysidro, California native also tallied two assists during the MW campaign, the first coming in the Aztecs 2-0 win at Snapdragon Stadium over San Jose State, and the second coming in SDSU's 3-0 win over Nevada. Castro appeared in all 11 contests for SDSU throughout the conference season, started all 11 games and played 934 minutes in conference play.
Gaines-Ramos broke out in a big way in 2022 en-route to her second career first-team all-conference selection. The junior from San Diego, lead the Aztecs and was in the top three in the conference in almost every offensive statistical category during conference play. Gaines-Ramos scored three goals in conference play and tallied five assists during the 2022 MW season. Her five total assists put her in a tie for first in the conference, and her 0.45 assists per match average was also tied for first in the conference. She tallied four assists in one weekend to earn herself MW offensive player of the week for the week of October 3rd when she dished out two assists at Air Force and two at Colorado College. Her 11 total points in conference action places her in a tie for second in the conference in total points, and her 1.00 average points per match total is also tied for second in the conference. Gaines-Ramos started and played in all 11 conference matches, and her 38 shots during conference play were the second most in the conference.
Utush, a senior defender from Rocklin, California earned second-team all-conference honors and played an integral part in the Aztecs defense all season. She started and completed all 90 minutes in all 11 conference matches, totaling 990 minutes of play during conference action. Utush also scored the game winning goal in the Aztecs 2-1 win over Wyoming in the 80th minute to secure all three points for the Aztecs that day. In addition to her game winning goal over Wyoming, Utush provided an assist on the third goal in the Aztecs 3-3 comeback draw with Colorado College. Defensively, Utush was part of a backline that gave up just three goals during the final eight matches of conference play, and helped the Aztecs post five shutouts in conference action.
Goins, a freshman defender from Folsom, California earned a spot on the newcomers team. As a true freshman Goins started and played in all 11 matches throughout the conference slate for the Aztecs, totaling 990 minutes of action during conference play. A force at centerback for SDSU, Goins helped the Aztecs give up just three goals in their final eight conference matches, and played an integral part in the Aztecs only giving up nine goals during conference play as a whole. Goins was the only defender named to the Mountain West all-Newcomers team.
San Diego State's season continues Sunday afternoon when the Aztecs play Utah State in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West tournament at 4 p.m. MT in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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