The San Diego State women’s soccer team (5-7-3, 3-2-2 MW) hosted San Jose State (0-11-4, 0-5-2 MW) on Thursday, Oct. 17 at the SDSU Sports Deck, in which the game concluded with a 2-1 win for the Aztecs.
The Aztecs had been away for two weeks which ended in two losses and two ties. Head coach Mike Friesen talked about being able to come back and play on their home field.
“(It’s) great to be back at home,” Friesen said. “We’ve been on the road at altitude for the last two weeks, which is grueling in a lot of ways. I think just the ability to play and move the ball on our field, sleeping in our own beds, that’s a huge advantage for us.”
Starting off the match, neither team could score a goal. It wasn’t until the 29-minute mark when junior defender Grace Goins did a headshot into the net that the Aztecs got their first goal. The goal gave out an assist to senior defender Trinity Coker.
Goins talked about her contribution to the win against the Spartans.
“It makes me feel really happy to help my team,” Goins said. “I love these girls so I would do anything for them. Starting it off right is always a good feeling especially getting the momentum into the game it makes me feel good.”
Friesen talked about Goins’s performance throughout the season.
“She’s been great in the back and that’s her third goal of the season,” Friesen said. “She’s doing some things that are just technically sound, in terms of we asked them to run through the ball and be aggressive. For her to get three goals already as a center back, when we don’t really send her that far forward very often except for our set pieces (it’s a) huge contribution.”
The majority of the second half was quiet. In the last five minutes of the match, Spartans senior defender Carly Burns was given a yellow card. The yellow card awarded a penalty kick towards the Aztecs. Senior midfielder Denise Castro took advantage and scored the second goal for the Aztecs, giving a 2-0 lead.
With 35 seconds left in the match, Spartans senior defender Kayla Fortenberry scored the only goal for San Jose trailing behind the Aztecs by one, 2-1.
The scarlet and black had a total of 25 shots, outshooting the Spartans who had nine.
“Great to create a lot of chances,” Friesen said. “I think we got to be way better at getting more balls on frame and passing balls on the ground in the corner. Their goalkeeper made a few good saves but I think we just missed the frame too often.”
Senior goalkeeper Alexa Madueño had a total of four saves while the Spartans had six. The Aztecs had a total of four fouls while the Spartans had eight fouls and earned four yellow cards.
With a win against the Spartans, Frisen now has 191 wins as head coach of the Aztecs. Friesen is now the all-time leader for the most overall wins in the Mountain West Conference as a head coach.
“For all the milestones I’ve hit, just remind me of all the amazing people that I’ve been able to work with and all the kids,” Friesen said. “I get to have the 191 by me but they’ve won the games. I’m standing on the sideline over here but it’s pretty cool. There’s two things, one makes me feel old because I think I’ve been around longer than anybody else and two I’m happy that we’ve had success.”
The scarlet and black will play at the SDSU Sports Deck on Sunday, Oct. 20 as they take on Fresno State at noon.
“We have practice tomorrow, we’re just gonna put our heads down, work, lock in, let our legs breathe for a little bit, and then get hyped (and) do it all over again,” Goins said.
