The San Diego State women’s soccer team honored the career of its only departing senior, Cat Walker, before facing off against Boise State in a game that ended in a loss for SDSU.
The Aztecs (7-6-3, 1-1-1 MWC) returned to the SDSU Sports Deck on Sunday to play in their final home game of the 2011 season against Boise State (6-9-1,1-3). Despite outshooting their opponents 15-6, the Aztecs fell victim to a second-half goal, which resulted in a 1-0 loss. This was the first meeting between both teams in school history.
“We are on a whole different level than Boise and we should have come out with the win,” junior defender Rachael McGlinchy said.
It was clear from the start that SDSU was in fact the stronger team. Within minutes of the game opening, the Aztecs took charge of the Broncos’ final third and dominated the offensive half of the field.
Walker and Junior forward Megan Jurado led SDSU’s offense with five shots combined in the period. The Aztec defense used its speed in the back to shut down nearly every breakaway opportunity attempted by Boise and allowed only two shots in the first 45 minutes of play.
However, as the first half drew to a close, SDSU’s frustration was apparent stemming from a lack of execution and inability to finish scoring opportunities.
At halftime, the game remained scoreless.
“We didn’t come out as hard as we did last weekend,” Jurado said.
As the second half commenced, it looked as if the Aztecs had not entirely released their first-half frustrations. Boise came out extremely strong, applying instant pressure to SDSU’s defense. In the sixth minute of the half, a Broncos forward slipped past the Aztecs’ backline and shot a goal that went off the post and into the net.
After giving up the goal, SDSU managed to pick up the pace offensively, creating several one-on-one scoring opportunities with Boise’s goalie. Despite this, it was unable to put the ball in the back of the net.
“We had a lot of opportunities with the goalie that we didn’t capitalize on. For the next few games, we need to play our game and stay consistent,” McGlinchy said.
The Aztecs face off against the Cowboys at 2 p.m. on Friday in Wyoming and will play against Air Force at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
