SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s soccer team will open its 2026 campaign on Wednesday night with a 7 p.m. match on the road at UC San Diego. It will be streamed on ESPN+ to paid subscribers.
The Aztecs are led by a trio of Pac-12 Preseason Impact List selections. Katie Senn tied for second in the Mountain West with eight assists last season. The fifth-year player started all 20 matches and scored a pair of goals, garnering All-Mountain West Second Team accolades. Junior Lily Boudet played in every match a season ago and started all but three for San Diego State. The Frenchwoman had both her first two collegiate goals and first two career assists in 2025. Sophomore goalkeeper Kailey Carlen tallied seven shutouts last year, tied for the tenth most in a season in program history.
SDSU hosted a pair of exhibition matches this season and won each by a pair of goals. The Aztecs won 2-0 against USC, who is receiving votes in the national poll, thanks to goals by Alexis Leath and Charlie Gerson. San Diego State held an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal and the Trojans only managed to get the ball into the offensive quadrant for just eight percent of its time of possession. SDSU followed it up with a 3-1 victory against the San Diego Toreros. Senn and KK Chowana-Bandhu each found the back of the net and the third goal was an own goal, with Kana Smith being the last Aztec to touch the ball. SDSU outshot the Toreros by a 22-8 margin and spent 70% of its possession time on the attacking half of the field.
The Scarlet and Black have two wins and three draws in six matches all-time against the Tritons. The teams played in 1990 and 1991 in La Jolla, with the Aztecs winning 1-0 in the first meeting and a 1-1 draw in the second. The next matchup didn’t come until 2022, on the SDSU Sports Deck, and finished in a 2-2 tie. The Aztecs emerged victorious by a 3-2 score in La Jolla in 2023 before the lone UC San Diego victory, coming by a 1-0 tally on the Sports Deck in 2024. The teams played to a scoreless draw at Snapdragon Stadium on August 30 of last season.
The Aztecs are opening on the road for just the fifth time in Mike Friesen’s 20 seasons as head coach. The last time SDSU opened on the road was a 2-1 win at Nebraska in 2022 with the others coming in 2017 at No. 9 UCLA, in 2010 at No. 9 Santa Clara and in 2008 at CSUN.
Heading into the match, SDSU is riding a six-match win streak in season openers in which the opponent was not ranked in the top 25. Those victories were decided by a combined score of 12-3 in favor of the Aztecs. It began with a 1-0 win against New Mexico State in 2018, followed by a 3-2 win against Nevada in 2020-21, then a 1-0 win over Army in 2021. Following the 2-1 win at Nebraska in 2022, San Diego State shut out Sacred Heart 2-0 in 2023 and Cal State Bakersfield 3-0 at Snapdragon Stadium in 2024.
San Diego State will return to the SDSU Sports Deck for its home opener against Washington at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19. Early arriving fans will receive a silicone wristband. Admission is free to all matches on the SDSU Sports Deck and the Aztecs’ home matches are all streamed for free on the Pac-12 YouTube page.