SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s soccer team closed out the regular season on Thursday night with a 2-1 win over New Mexico to advance to the Mountain West Tournament.
SDSU honored Taryn Grobbel, Boston Girman, Alexys Ocampo and Grace Goins prior to the match.
The Aztecs needed a win to earn a bid to the Mountain West Tournament as Fresno State also won their match on Thursday night.
San Diego State (8-4-6, 4-2-4 MW) midfielder Katie Senn took the first shot of the game in the fourth minute, and it was on target, but New Mexico (8-4-6, 4-2-4 MW) keeper Alyson Campbell made the stop.
Ciara Jade Mitchell also had a shot on goal in the 12th minute.
The Lobos struck first on a Mercedes Morris goal at 13:03.
SDSU keeper Kailey Carlen made her lone save of the first half on a Morgan Juran shot in the 21st minute.
The Aztecs forced three more Campbell saves in the first half on shots by Senn (29th minute), Alexyz Nakamoto (32nd minute) and Mitchell (39th minute).
In the second half, San Diego State opened on the attack as Emma Fuller and Mitchell each put shots on target in the first two minutes after halftime.
New Mexico’s Allie Anderson was booked with a yellow card in the 57th minute.
Seconds later, the Lobos fouled Mia Lane in the box, setting up a penalty kick. Lane converted for the equalizer.
Carlen made her second and final save of the night on a shot by Claire Roybal in the 71st minute.
SDSU responded quickly with Mitchell and Lane each putting shots on target in the ensuing two minutes.
Head Coach Mike Friesen was issued a yellow card in the 80th minute.
Shortly afterwards, an ominous fog suddenly rolled in at the SDSU Sports Deck, and the final few minutes of the match were played with low visibility.
In the 83rd minute, Fuller came down the right side and passed across to Alexis Leath, who punched the ball in with her left foot to win the match and send the Aztecs to the conference tournament.
San Diego State led in shots (20-7), shots on goal (11-3) and corner kicks (5-3) while New Mexico had more saves (9-2).
The Aztecs entered the day as the sixth seed and got help from Wyoming, who tied Colorado State 3-3, which along with the win and New Mexico’s loss allowed SDSU to jump both teams to the fourth seed in the tournament.
THE NOTE
San Diego State advances to the Mountain West Championships for the 25th time in 26 seasons. SDSU is 21-14-7 all-time in the MW Tournament and earned the fourth seed for the second straight season.
UP NEXT
Fourth-seeded San Diego State will take on fifth-seeded Colorado State in the Mountain West Quarterfinals at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT on Sunday in Boise. The match will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network and the winner advances to play top-seeded host Boise State at the same time on Wednesday, November 5.