Under the bright lights of Snapdragon Stadium, the San Diego State women’s soccer team delivered a shining performance as they shut out the University of San Diego 4-0 on Thursday night in Mission Valley.
Midfielder Denise Castro had the fourth brace of the season for the Aztecs (5-2-1), netting a pair for her third and fourth goals of the season before a crowd of 2,533. The four-goal margin of victory against USD (1-6-1) was tied for largest ever in program history, equalling a 5-1 home win during the 1997 season.
”It’s the best feeling ever just knowing that we came in here, knowing that no matter what we’re going to win because it is our city,” Castro said. ”It’s just more mentality going into the game as the only way to win is as a team, so I feel like we all were able to connect.”
That connection was on display early as SDSU opened the account in the ninth minute.
Castro found forward Kali Threvithick with a through ball to spring her for a break up the middle of the attacking third. Trevithick then swung it to trailing forward Emma Gaines-Ramos on the left side of the box, who took a touch and then slotted her first goal of the season home to the right post.
The Aztecs continued to pour on the pressure as Castro one-twoed a pass back to Trevithick for an initial shot from the top of the box. Toreros keeper Sophine Kevokian punched it away, but Castro was there to slot the rebound home in the 15th minute.
Midfielder Olivia Sekimoto completed the first half scoring when she pounced on, and put home, a punch clear by Kevorkian off a hard, low shot by Gaines-Ramos in the 37th minute.
”That game was really fun for us,” said head coach Mike Friesen. “To play really well and feel like we dominated the majority of the game was a really fun way to close out and just give us that confidence going into conference play.”
Castro completed the scoreline in the 72nd minute, finishing off a spell of SDSU pressure by retrieving the ball on the left side of the box and powering the finish home to the near post.
All four of the SDSU goals in the match had either Castro or Gaines-Ramos involved. While the two were responsible for 37 of the team’s 80 points last season, this year the Aztecs have been able to get significantly more scoring depth. Seven different players have notched multiple points through the first eight matches.
“I thought there were a ton of really good performances and I thought the team did a really nice job of just limiting chances and really controlling the whole game,” Friesen said.
The defense did its job as well, recording its third clean sheet of the season and second in the past three matches. SDSU outshot the Toreros 18-10 in the match, with goalkeepers Alexa Madueno and Cameron Illingworth combining to make five saves.
“I thought that in the 90th minute, the fact that we were defending as a team all over the field and (USD) did not have any chances speaks volumes about what this team can do,” Friesen said.
San Diego State opens Mountain West play with their first two matches on the road, first at Fresno State on Thursday, Sept. 21 and then at San José State on Sunday, Sept. 24. The Aztecs host their first conference match on Thursday, Sept. 28 against Air Force.
”It comes down to like being together as a team,” Castro said. “We all have this mentality going into these (non-conference) games that whatever it is we got to work together, get the result and I feel like we feel pretty confident going into the (conference) season.”
