SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women's soccer continues their homestand this week with two home matches against local southern California schools. The Aztecs will play Pepperdine on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT and Long Beach State on Sunday at 7 p.m. PT, both matches will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
Aztecs Notes
- San Diego State opened the 2023 regular season with two wins last week. SDSU took down Sacred Heart 2-0 in the season opener, before earning a comeback win over UTEP on Sunday morning 2-1.
- SDSU improved to 20-14-1 in season openers at home and has now won five of their last six season openers. Olivia Sekimoto scored the first goal of the season, while forward Denise Castro provided the Aztecs with a late second goal to earn the home opening game win.
- San Diego State also earned a win in tough conditions on Sunday. The Aztecs took down UTEP in a driving rain and strong winds, courtesy of a Dori Savage brace. The two goals were the first of Savage's collegiate career.
That's a First
- Dori Savage scored two goals on Sunday. Those two goals were the first brace of her collegiate career, as well as the first two goals overall of her career. The Chula Vista native has appeared in 11 total matches for the Aztecs over the course of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
- Four Aztecs made their collegiate or San Diego State debut on Thursday. Boston Girman (Cotati, Calif.) and Lily Boudet (Montpellier, France) made their first collegiate appearances, while Kali Trevithick (Anchorage, Alaska) and Bekah Brooks (Santa Clarita, Calif.) made their SDSU debuts.
- Olivia Sekimoto scored the first goal of the season on Thursday, it was the second goal of her career (first was 8/21/22 vs. Idaho).
- Alyza Eckhardt (Chula Vista, Calif.) and Alexys Ocampo (Upland, Calif.) both dished out their first career assists on Sunday against UTEP.
Climbing the Ranks
- Keeper Alexa Madueno, a three-year starter to date on The Mesa, continues to climb the ranks of the SDSU record book. After making five stops over the weekend Madueno climbed to third all-time in saves with 212. With the shutout win over Sacred Heart in the season opener, Madueno continues her climb up the career shutouts board and now sits sixth all-time with 17. Madueno is also eighth in the record book in career goals against average at 1.32.
Player Notes
- Five different Aztecs were either on the score sheet or assisted goals over the weekend. Dori Savage, Denise Castro and Olivia Sekimoto all found the back of the net, while Alyza Eckhardt, Alexys Ocampo and Emma Gaines-Ramos all earned an assist.
- SDSU brings back eight starters from last season, including their top two goal scorers in Emma Gaines-Ramos and Denise Castro who scored six and seven goals apiece.
- San Diego State returns all four players who earned all-conference honors in 2022. Denise Castro and Emma Gaines-Ramos in attack earned first-team all-conference, Kiera Utush was placed on the second team, while Grace Goins returns at centerbak and was named to the all-newcomers team in 2022.
- Kiera Utush enters her fifth season at San Diego State. The Rocklin, California native has been a force along the backline and has made a total of 72 appearances (59 starts) for the Scarlet and Black.
- Alexa Madueno returns in goal for San Diego State. The redshirt junior from Woodland, California is currently ranked in the top eight in five different categories in the SDSU record book entering the 2023 season. Madueno is currently tied for third in career saves with 207, is fifth on the single-season saves list with 92 shots stopped during the 2022 season, sixth in career shutouts with 16, eighth in career goals against average at 1.36, and is tied for tenth in since-season shutouts with seven shutouts recorded during the 2022 season.
Scouting Pepperdine
- Pepperdine and SDSU last played in 2022, a 4-0 win for the Waves in Malibu, California. Pepperdine has started the 2023 season with one of the tougher nonconference slates in the country. The Waves have already played #16 Georgetown and Michigan, and will also play at nationally ranked UCLA, and at LSU and at Illinois before their WCC conference season starts. Pepperdine drew both of those matches against Georgetown and Michigan, 1-1 and 2-2 respectively. They have outshot their opponents 37-17 in their first two matches, while Tatum Wynalda, daughter of SDSU grad Amy Ward and SDSDU Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda, earned WCC offensive player of the week after she scored a goal in each of ther two games during the opening weekend.
Scouting Long Beach State
- LBSU enters the week with a 1-1-0 record, after The Beach had head turning opening week, pushing No. 15 Texas to the limit before ending the week with a win over Boston College. Against the Longhorns, LBSU scored first and led 1-0 at halftime. Coming out of the break, the teams totaled four goals in 12 minutes before Texas ultimately scored the game-winner in the last minute resulting in a 4-3 loss for the Beach. As for the Boston College match LBSU earned a 4-2 win, with Elysia Laramie scoring four goals enroute to a Big West offensive player of the week award.