SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s soccer team (1-2-1) is back in action this week for two matches in Southern California. The Aztecs will take on Pepperdine (3-3-1) at 3 p.m. on Thursday, September 11, in Malibu. SDSU returns to the SDSU Sports Deck to play UC Riverside (0-4-1) at 7 p.m. on Sunday, September 14. The Pepperdine match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the UC Riverside match will appear on the Mountain West Network.
Last week, the Aztecs were off following a scoreless draw against UC San Diego on August 30 at Snapdragon Stadium in front of a record crowd of 2,593.
The Waves enter the match with a balanced 3-3-1 record. Of their three defeats, two came on the road at top ten ranked opponents in Texas Christian and Southern California, with the third coming at Arizona State last Thursday. They have won three of their last four matches, taking down California, Columbia and Arizona. The team tied Hawai’i in their home opener on August 17. A year ago, the Waves went 12-4-5, winning the Big West championship before falling 2-1 at home to California in overtime in their First Round matchup of the NCAA Tournament.
The Aztecs tied Pepperdine 1-1 when they last played in 2023. Overall, the Waves lead the series 9-3-1. The Aztecs won the first two meetings in 1993 and 1997 by matching 2-1 scores. SDSU’s most recent victory against Pepperdine came on August 31, 2012, by a 1-0 tally on the SDSU Sports Deck.
The Highlanders have a road match at California Baptist on Thursday night ahead of Saturday’s contest. Through their first five matches, the Highlanders have yet to score a goal with their lone result coming in a 0-0 draw against UTEP on August 21 in their only home match so far this season.
SDSU is 4-2-2 against UC Riverside all-time. The teams have not faced off since 2014 and tied in the last two matches (2014 and 2009). San Diego State emerged victorious in four of the first six meetings between 2001 and 2008.
San Diego State rounds out non-conference play with a pair of home matches next week on the SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs will face Nevada at 7 p.m. on September 18 and Hawai’i at noon on September 21. The match against the Rainbow Wahine will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network and admission to all matches on the Sports Deck is free.