SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women's soccer earned a 3-2 win over Colorado State on Sunday afternoon courtesy of a Denice Castro goal in the 86th minute. With the win SDSU remains tied for first in the Mountain West Conference standings with Boise State on 25 points.
With the score knotted up at 2-2 in the 86th minute, the Aztecs (13-3-2, 8-1-1 MW) had the ball in a dangerous spot just outside the Colorado State (10-5-3, 5-3-2) 18-yard box. Alexys Ocampo then dribbled towards the endline before slotting a cross towards a waiting Denise Castro. With a defender on her, Castro took a touch to give her some space and then fired the ball past the on-rushing CSU keeper to give San Diego State the lead, and the win. The goal was Castro's ninth of the season.
Both teams would have chances that were well saved by both keepers in the opening half hour of play before the Aztecs opened the scoring in the 38th minute. Castro picked up the ball just outside the box, and after she dribbled into the box she was taken down by a Colorado State defender and SDSU was awarded a penalty. Kiera Utush then calmly strode up to the penalty spot and dispatched the ball into the back of the net to give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead with seven minutes to play in the half. Just before the end of the half Colorado State found an equalizer with nine seconds remaining. Liv Stutzman fired home a shot from just inside the box after a cross from Ali Yoshida to make it a 1-1 game heading into the halftime break.
After the break both teams would search for a go-ahead goal but neither team was able to find a breakthrough in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. However, the game would open up in the 60th minute, and SDSU would take advantage of the space in the 64th minute. Alexys Ocampo took on multiple defenders as she dribbled into the box, and then played the ball across the six-yard box where it found the foot of Olivia Sekimoto who slammed it home for the Aztecs, giving SDSU a 2-1 lead. The lead would not last long, as Colorado State equalized just 52 seconds later. Liv Stutzman scored her second of the match to make it 2-2 with just over 20 minutes to play in Fort Collins, Colorado.
With the score tied, Madueno came up big in the 79th minute when she made a big stop to preserve what was at that point a tie game. Castro then put the game away in the 86th minute, and the Aztecs took all three points on Sunday afternoon.
Up Next: San Diego State returns to the SDSU Sports Deck for senior night against New Mexico on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT on Thursday evening.
Game Notes:
- San Diego State moves to 13-3-2 on the season, and have won 11 of their last 13 matches (11-1-1).
- The last time SDSU won 13 games or more in a season was 2015 when SDSU finished 15-4-1.
- Denise Castro scored her ninth goal of the season, a new career-high in single-season goals.
- With a goal and assist on Sunday, Castro now has 59 career points as an Aztec (24 goals, 11 assists). Those 59 points put Castro at ninth all-time in career points at San Diego State.
- Castro's goal in the 86th minute was the 24th of career, putting her seventh all-time at SDSU in career goals.
- Alexa Madueno had six saves on Sunday, and now has 297 for her career.