SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s soccer team returns to The Mesa this week for a pair of matches on the SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs will battle San Jose State at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Fresno State at noon on Sunday. Admission is free for both matches and Sunday’s match will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. Those matches are doubleheaders with SDSU’s men’s soccer team with the men playing first on the 17th and the women playing first on the 20th.
San Diego State (4-7-3, 2-2-2 Mountain West) is coming off a pair of ties last week to remain .500 in conference play. On Thursday, SDSU played Colorado College to a scoreless draw as Alexa Madueno logged her fourth shutout of the season and program record-tying 26th of her career. In Sunday’s match, Grace Goins scored her second goal of the season and her career and Dori Savage scored for the first time this season after finishing second on the team in goals last year as the Aztecs tied Air Force 2-2. Denise Castro leads the Aztecs with six goals and 13 points and Carlin Blake and Gaines-Ramos pace the roster with four assists. Castro is tied for third in the Mountain West in goals and fourth in goals per game. As a team, the Aztecs rank in the top three in the conference in goals, assists, points, goals per game, assists per game and saves. Madueno has played the entire season in goal for SDSU, totaling 72 saves (most in the MW), equivalent to 5.14 per game (also the most in the Mountain West), with four shutouts. San Diego State head coach Mike Friesen’s 190 wins are tied for the most by a coach in Mountain West history with former member Brigham Young’s Jennifer Rockwood.
San Jose State (0-10-4, 0-4-2 MW) remains winless this season. In conference play, the Spartans have one goal, leading to two ties, 1-1 against Boise State and 0-0 vs. Wyoming and four losses to Utah State 4-0, Colorado State 2-0, Nevada 2-0 and UNLV 1-0. The Aztecs beat UNLV 2-0 and Nevada 5-0 but were bested by Utah State 5-1 and Boise State 2-0. In non-conference play, the Spartans fell 4-1 to Eastern Washington, who SDSU defeated 4-2. San Diego State and San Jose State have played 21 times with 15 Aztec victories and four ties. SDSU is 13-1-4 vs. the Spartans in the Mike Friesen era and undefeated (10-0-2) when playing at home. The Aztecs are unbeaten in the last nine meetings and have only lost once in the last 20 matchups including a 13-1-4 record in the MW era.
Fresno State (5-6-3, 0-4-2 MW) is also still looking for its first conference win. In Mountain West competition, the Bulldogs have a pair of ties, 0-0 against Utah State and 1-1 vs. UNLV with losses to Boise State 1-0, Wyoming 4-3, Colorado State 3-2 and Nevada 2-1. The Aztecs beat UNLV 2-0 and Nevada 5-0 but fell to Utah State 5-1 and Boise State 2-0. Against common non-conference opponents, the Bulldogs won 2-1 against Weber State and Cal State Bakersfield while the Aztecs defeated the Roadrunners 3-0 and tied the Wildcats 1-1. Prior to Sunday’s match, Air Force will head to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to battle the New Mexico Lobos on Thursday. The Aztecs and Bulldogs have met on 22 occasions and SDSU is 15-5-2. San Diego State has won five of the last seven meetings including 1-0 and 5-1 wins each of the last two seasons. The Aztecs are 9-3-2 against the Bulldogs in the Mike Friesen era and are undefeated (9-0-1) when playing at home.
Next week is the final full week of the regular season. San Diego State travels to Laramie, Wyoming, to face the Wyoming Cowgirls at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT on Thursday, October 24. After that, the Aztecs return to the SDSU Sports Deck for a match against Colorado State at noon on Sunday, October 27. Both matches will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. The match against Colorado State will be Senior Day for SDSU’s nine seniors and admission is free.