SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s soccer team plays a pair of matches this week for the final time in the 2024 regular season. On Thursday, the Aztecs play a rare weekday daytime match when they will be in Laramie, Wyoming, to battle the Wyoming Cowgirls at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT. SDSU will travel back to America’s Finest City for a match on Sunday against the Colorado State Rams at noon on the SDSU Sports Deck. That match is Senior Day for SDSU, and the Aztecs will honor 11 players: Alexa Madueno, Alyza Eckhardt, Emma Gaines-Ramos, Kali Trevithick, Denise Castro, Olivia Sekimoto, Bekah Brooks, Trinity Coker, Dori Savage, Jenna West and Carlin Blake. Both matches will be streamed on the Mountain West Network and admission on Sunday is free.
San Diego State (6-7-3, 4-2-2 Mountain West) won both its matches last week to stay perfect (4-0) in home conference matches. In Thursday’s 2-1 win over San Jose State, Grace Goins scored a first-half goal off a Coker corner kick for the second straight match. Castro scored in the 85th minute on a penalty kick, her first penalty kick goal of her career, to provide insurance. The Spartans snuck the ball into the goal with 35 seconds remaining for a 2-1 final. The win was the 191st of Mike Friesen’s career, breaking the record for most overall wins by a Mountain West head coach. The Aztecs followed it up with a 4-0 victory on Sunday against Fresno State. Madueno’s shutout was the 27th of her career, breaking the program record for career shutouts. Trevithick scored early as Gaines-Ramos picked up her team-leading fifth assist. Blake also scored in the first half on a pass from Logan Nidy. Gaines-Ramos and Castro each scored in the second half to reach the 4-0 final. Castro leads the Aztecs with eight goals and 17 points and Gaines-Ramos paces the roster with five assists. Castro is tied for the Mountain West lead in goals and goals per game (0.50). 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 78 saves (most in the MW), equivalent to 4.88 per game (second most in the Mountain West), with five shutouts. Madueno holds the school records for saves and shutouts and among active DI players, she ranks fourth in saves, is tied for 16th in shutouts and is fifth in goalkeeper minutes.
Wyoming (4-6-6, 2-3-3 MW) has not had the same result in consecutive matches during Mountain West competition this season. Following a 2-1 loss to Colorado College to begin conference play, the Cowgirls tied Air Force 1-1 and knocked off Fresno State 4-3. After a scoreless tie vs. SJSU, Wyoming upset Utah State 2-0 before losing to Boise State 2-1, tying Nevada 0-0 and falling 3-0 at UNLV. For comparison, SDSU took down Nevada (5-0), UNLV (2-0), San Jose State (2-1) and Fresno State (4-0). SDSU tied Colorado College (0-0) and Air Force (2-2) and was bested by Boise State (2-0) and Utah State (5-1). Like the Aztecs, the Cowgirls tied Weber State in non-conference play. San Diego State and Wyoming have played 27 times, all during the Mountain West era, with 18 Aztec victories and two ties. SDSU is 13-4-1 vs. the Cowgirls in the Mike Friesen era and 5-5-2 when playing in Laramie. The Aztecs have a total of 15 wins in the last 20 meetings. The teams played last year in San Diego, with SDSU lighting up the scoreboard in a 5-1 victory.
Colorado State (10-3-3, 6-0-2 MW) is unbeaten in conference play and is tied with Boise State for first place. In Mountain West competition, the Rams swept their first four matches against Air Force (4-0), Colorado College (1-0), San Jose State (2-0) and Fresno State (3-2). Following 1-1 ties versus Boise State and Utah State, CSU got back in the win column last week with victories over UNLV (2-1) and Nevada (1-0). SDSU also has wins over Nevada (5-0), UNLV (2-0), San Jose State (2-1) and Fresno State (4-0). SDSU has ties against Colorado College (0-0) and Air Force (2-2) and came up short against Boise State (2-0) and Utah State (5-1). Prior to Sunday’s match, Colorado State will battle the New Mexico Lobos on Thursday. The Aztecs and Rams have met on 11 occasions, all since 2013, and SDSU is 8-1-2. San Diego State holds a 4-1 record when playing on the SDSU Sports Deck. In the team’s two matchups last season, SDSU won 3-2 in Fort Collins during the regular seasons and the teams played to a 2-2 draw in the Mountain West Tournament.
San Diego State wraps up its regular season with a match at New Mexico at 7:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. PT next Thursday, October 31. The match will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. If the Aztecs finish in the top six seeds in the Mountain West, they will then compete in the Mountain West Championship, held on the SDSU Sports Deck, from November 3-9.