On Sept. 15, Victoria Miller, forward for San Diego State women’s soccer, was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 8.
Miller dominated the scoresheet in two matches against Pepperdine and UC Riverside, totaling three goals with an impressive .750 shooting percentage. The Aztecs went 2-0 in those matches, with Miller delivering the game-winning goal against Riverside.
Miller credits her early-season success to the established chemistry she has with her teammates and the personnel surrounding her.
“I just feel like, as a team, we’re just all gelling together, and I have a lot of trust in my teammates and my coaches,” Miller said. “And having that trust is just giving me the ability to have that confidence on the field and put the ball in the back of the net.”
In her second collegiate season, Miller has a newfound role with the Aztecs. She spent her freshman season playing for Ohio State, where she tallied zero goals in 15 games for the Buckeyes. Now, she fills a more elevated role, being a centerpiece of the team’s offense and the team’s designated penalty taker.
Adapting to a new team and system has been a seamless transition for both Miller and the Aztecs.
“She fits us perfectly,” said head coach Mike Friesen. “One of the things that got us excited about her, as she was in the transfer portal, was thinking about how she would fit into our team, and our style, and our tactics. But she’s been even better than I imagined.”
(Manorack Sukhaseum)
Miller brings a complete offensive package to her game that made her such a desirable target for Friesen to add to his SDSU squad.
“She has the ability to spin people, she has the ability to get the ball under control in tight spaces and play out of that,” Friesen said. “But then she’s been a really good finisher too.”
Miller, again, attributed her adaptation into SDSU’s system to her chemistry with her teammates.
“We’ve just been gelling from the start, and I mean, the team culture here is unreal,” Miller said. “I would run through a wall for any one of them and I think that goes hand in hand off the field and on the field, and it’s showing for us right now.”
Building off of her momentum, Miller scored again Thursday in a 4-0 win against Nevada, tallying her team-leading fifth goal of the season. Her offensive dominance thus far has led the Aztecs to a 4-2-1 start to the season.
Miller’s offensive dominance to start the season has set the Aztecs on fire, leading them to a three-game winning streak as of Sept. 18. As the team builds momentum heading into conference play, sticking to routine and relying on a growing chemistry is her main focus.
Both high-end play and connecting with the people around her have propelled Miller to her Offensive Player of the Week honors.
“I’m gonna stick to what I know and we’re just gonna keep trusting the process,” Miller said. “We started off not how we wanted to, and now we’re putting more goals in the back of the net. We’re only going to go up from here and keep the momentum. I think just relying on each other and trusting our coaching staff and each other.”
