The San Diego State women’s soccer team (1-1-1) suffered their first season loss against the nation’s No. 2 ranked team, Stanford (3-0-0), 3-1, at the SDSU Sports Deck on Thursday, Aug. 22.
The Stanford Cardinal proved why they were the runner-up in last year’s NCAA tournament by taking a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game and having possession of the ball most of the match.
However, the Aztecs continued to fight back, and their hard work finally paid off in the 40th minute. The referee called a foul against the Cardinal when SDSU delivered their only corner kick of the game into the box, and a penalty kick was awarded to the Aztecs.
In her first game back in the lineup, senior forward Kali Trevithick stepped up to the spot and scored as Cardinal’s goalkeeper went in the opposite direction. Trevithick’s goal equalized the game going into halftime.
(Jamie Sanchez )
Trevithick described her feelings for scoring her first goal of the season after the game.
“(I felt) excited. I was out last week with a little knee injury, but it’s good to be back,” she said.
But the even ground was short-lived, the Cardinal came out to the second half and scored again in less than a minute to take back the lead, 2-1. Then they extended their lead to 3-1 in the 50th minute, which would also be the final score.
“I think (throughout the game) our team just worked and fought,” Trevithick said. “Stanford is a very good technical team, but we fought to the end.”
Head coach Mike Friesen said he was happy with the team’s overall performance but still saw room for improvement.
“The difference to the game was the two goals in the first minute of the halves,” he said. “We have to start faster than that and stay in games.”
The Aztecs will have eight days to recover and prepare for their next game against Oklahoma State at the SDSU Sports Deck on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.
Friesen said that having these many days off not only lets the players rest and recover but also allows the team to practice improving on things that they got exposed to in this match.
“As the season gets going, we get so few practices,” he said. “When (we play) Thursday and Sunday, we only have one real practice day a week. So getting a few more practice days this week will also be good for us.”
The Aztecs will look to bounce back from the defeat as they move forward against the nation’s No. 17 ranking OSU.
