The San Diego State women’s soccer team captured their third win of a four-game homestand, knocking off conference rival Boise State 1-0 on Thursday night at the SDSU Sports Deck.
The Aztecs (9-2-2, 4-0-1 Mountain West Conference) handed Boise State (5-2-6, 3-1-1) their first defeat in the conference, which stopped a two match losing streak against the Broncos. The Aztecs solidified their first place standing in Mountain West, in which they are the only remaining undefeated team in conference play.
Both teams battled for possession in the first 25 minutes. Tempo then picked up as the Aztecs gathered momentum with three consecutive shots, but the Broncos responded with three quick attempts at goal.
The Aztecs took control by scoring the first goal. In the 33rd minute, midfielder Alexys Ocampo chipped the ball across the goal and found the back of the net to give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead, assisted by midfielder Katie Senn.
Ocampo said she intended to find a teammate with the cross since she had been working on crossing the ball to the back post a lot, but it was a great feeling to score.
“Definitely 10 out of 10 feeling, but it definitely was probably more of a cross. I was trying to play it to my teammates, but I just felt lucky,” she said. “We’ve been working on hitting it to the back post a lot. So, I’ve been getting better at that, and I just was able to get in the goal this time.”
Boise State tried to find an equalizer for the remainder of the first half, but could not.
The second half began with the Aztecs in attacking mode, drawing fouls and getting free kicks in areas that could create threats.
Head coach Mike Friesen praised how the team handled those free kick situations.
“(We) were better at execution in our set pieces. I thought we did a better job of playing some smaller balls at the end, especially instead of just dumping balls in it,” Friesen said. “Better execution, better decisions for sure.”
SDSU had possession and dominated most of the second half, coming close to scoring more but did not. Ocampo’s first half goal proved to be the match-winner, while goalkeeper Alexa Madueno made two saves to record her third individual shutout of the season.
The Aztecs will play another top team in the Mountain West, second place Utah State, at noon on Sunday, Oct. 8 at the SDSU Sports Deck.
