There is a light at the end of the tunnel. How bright it is, or ifthe team will ever reach it, remains to be seen.
This year’s San Diego State women’s soccer team has stumbled,tripped, and fallen on its way to a woeful 3-9 record. No team inSDSU history, men’s or women’s, has started so poorly.
Yet, hope springs eternal at Montezuma Mesa, as tomorrow marks thebeginning of the Mountain West Conference season. Regular seasonconference play is important as a precursor to the conferencetournament in Las Vegas, which begins on Nov. 1. The winner thereearns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
An at-large bid is seemingly out of the question, as no team inlast year’s tournament had more than the Aztecs’ nine losses allseason. That leaves winning the MWC Championship as SDSU’s onlyprobable route into the NCAA tournament.
If they are to rebound from their disappointing start and make arun at the tournament, the Aztecs will need to start at theiropponent’s net. SDSU has put the ball there far too little thisseason. Four times this year, the Aztecs have scored two goals in agame; they have yet to score more. Compare that to this point lastseason, when SDSU had already had ten such games; they had scoredthree or more goals four times.
Back-to-back shutouts against Pepperdine and Harvard last weekendmarked the first time since 1993 that the Aztecs had been shut out inconsecutive games.
Intensity has also been a problem for SDSU, especially late in thegame. The Aztecs have given up five goals after the 80-minute mark sofar this year, including two game-winners in overtime against Indianaand Harvard.
Anotherkey will be consistency. SDSU head coach Chuck Clegg is stillsearching for a successful duo at forward. Against Harvard, Cleggused his fifth different combination, starting juniors Kim Rogers andNicole Findlay. Along with Rogers and Findlay, freshman KimCastellanos and senior Tina Atwood have also started at forward thisseason for the Aztecs.
Friday, Air Force visits the Sports Deck, bringing with it SDSU’sbest chance to (once again) break out of their current funk andsalvage what is left of this season. The Falcons have sleepwalkedthrough this season as well, sporting a 2-9-1 record. Both wins arenoteworthy though. The first was a drubbing of Youngstown State, inwhich Air Force scored (no, this is not a typo) 14 goals. Comparethat to the Aztecs’ 12 goals — all season. The second win was an 2-1overtime thriller against Army last Sunday, in which juniormidfielder Beth Boyer scored the golden goal at 98:06.
Next up is Wyoming on Sunday. The Cowgirls have already broken theprogram mark for wins at 6-3-1, and are anchored by senior goalkeeperAmanda Vandervort. In her third season as Wyoming’s starter,Vandervort has racked up three shutouts and leads the conference inevery goalkeeping category. The Cowgirls, who play at UNLV on Friday,will likely give SDSU a much tougher game than the Falcons.
In short, this weekend — and every weekend until the end of theseason — is critical for the Aztecs. Already on life support, an 0-2start in conference will all but pull the plug on the 2000 campaign.On the other hand, a 2-0 start could revitalize SDSU and fuel asecond-half run that could put the Aztecs in a very good positiongoing into the MWC tournament.
SDSU is hoping for the latter. Two more losses, and the light willget dimmer, the road more uncertain.
THIS WEEKEND
Who: San Diego State (3-9) vs. U. S. Air Force Academy (2-9-1)and University of Wyoming (6-3-1)
Where: SDSU Sports Deck
When: Air Force, Friday, 1 p.m.; Wyoming, Sunday, noon.
Previous Meetings: SDSU def. Air Force 2-0 and def. Wyoming 6-0last season
Aztecs Update: Will SDSU get another win before the “Aztecs” nameis retired? That is anything but certain, as the Aztecs have beeninconsistent and listless this season in losing nine of their first12 matches. Sweeping this weekend’s games would do wonders for thesquad’s spirits; losing one or both could be the final blow to analready disappointing season.
Opponents’ Update: There are stark contrasts between Air Force andWyoming. The Falcons have run the gamut this season, from a 14-0demolition of Youngstown State to a 3-0 blowout loss to Dayton. Mostof the season has been along the lines of the Dayton match, as AirForce has played as poorly or poorer than SDSU. Wyoming, on the otherhand, is off to, by far, the best start in program history. TheCowgirls’ six wins are the most the program has seen in an entireseason. They also seem to be getting better after shutting out bothCreighton and Idaho State last weekend.
