SAN DIEGO – San Diego State head women’s soccer coach Mike Friesen has announced ten newcomers joining the team for this fall’s 2026 campaign.
San Diego State has added a pair of goalkeepers to supplement last year’s freshman star Kailey Carlen. Oregon State transfer Sammy Martinez did not see action for the Beavers in 2025 but was an All-America First Team selection while winning a conference title at Hartnell College in 2024. The Watsonville, California, native will wear the 01 jersey. Martinez will return to Corvallis, Oregon, with the Aztecs for a Pac-12 match on October 8. Mackenzie Yoder spent the last two seasons with Memphis, saving the only shot she faced in 9:12 of action against Temple on October 27, 2025. Yoder is a Southern California native, hailing from Huntington Beach, and will wear 00.
At defender, the Scarlet and Black are bolstering a group led by returners Mia Hambro Svendsen, Emma Fuller and Lily Boudet with a pair of newcomers: freshman Kana Smith and San Francisco State transfer Maya Stinson. Smith comes from O’ahu, Hawai’i, where she was a three-time state champion in high school with Pac-5. She scored a brace in her team’s state championship match win and will wear 4. Stinson is a San Diego native and appeared in 11 matches for the Gators last season, starting five times. She scored her first collegiate goal on an equalizer against Dominican University on September 20 and upon her arrival at SDSU, Stinson will wear the number 15 jersey.
The Aztecs are returning Katie Senn, Alexyz Nakamoto and Charlie Gerson at midfielder, who each started all 20 matches last season. In addition to those three as well as contributors Rory Schank and Karoline Lundstrom, there are three new additions. Freshman Cayden Chowana-Bandhu is from Oak Park, California, and is a three-time ECNL All-Conference First Team selection with experience playing for the Thailand U20 national team. Chowana-Bandhu will wear number 10 for San Diego State. Kendall Moore is a transfer from Eastern Washington, where she started in 35 of her 48 appearances over the last three seasons, scoring ten goals and nine assists for a total of 29 points. The Yakima, Washington, native was an All-Big Sky First Team selection in 2024 and was named to the conference’s Second Team last season. Moore will suit up in number 8. Finally, Alana Beasley started 24 matches during two seasons of competition with George Washington including all 18 matches in 2025. She hails from Bristow, Virginia, and has been assigned number 9.
Victoria Miller, Alexis Leath and Briahna Gieger are back at forward for SDSU and are supported by a trio of newcomers. Freshman Alannah Gonzales prepped at Etiwanda High in Rancho Cucamonga, California, where she was named All-Section and All-League. She will wear the 7 jersey. Naima Castro and Eva Wees both are coming to The Mesa from Nevada. Castro started all 18 matches for Nevada as a freshman last season, scoring five goals and garnering Mountain West All-Newcomers Team honors. Castro is a San Diego native and will take over the number 2 jersey. Wees spent four seasons in Reno and appeared in 51 matches with 18 starts, scoring a total of three times. She started in Nevada’s first four matches of 2025 before a season-ending injury. The Chula Vista native will suit up in number 25 on The Mesa.
The Aztecs are entering their inaugural season in the Pac-12 conference for women’s soccer. SDSU came to the Pac-12 from the Mountain West with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State. The conference’s women’s soccer membership is rounded out by Gonzaga, Oregon State, Texas State and Washington State. Last year, San Diego State logged its fourth straight winning record overall and finished .500 or better in conference play for the 17th consecutive season, going 9-4-7 (4-2-4 Mountain West). The Scarlet and Black finished fourth in the Mountain West standings and knocked off Colorado State 1-0 in the MW Quarterfinals to advance to the Semifinals, where they tied top-seeded Boise State 1-1, but fell 3-2 in penalty kicks.