Aztecs beat UCSB, increasing record to2-0
Erin BockmanStaff Writer
San Diego State continued to dominate on the field, beatingUniversity of California, Santa Barbara 2-1 last Sunday. The roadvictory puts the Aztecs at 2-0 this season.
During the first 40 minutes, both teams took plenty of shots, butnone made it past the posts, leaving the first half scoreless. Thiseven matchup made it difficult to tell which team would walk off thefield in victory.
Aztecs team captain, Jodi Bick, said they examined how UCSB playedduring the first half and then made the necessary changes for thesecond half.
“We were reading the other team, figuring out their strengths andweaknesses,” Bick said. “Then we adjusted to them, using a differentformation than usual.”
The changes helped SDSU get on the scoreboard and take control inthe second half. The contest’s first goal, by Aztecs forward NikkiMiller, came in the 55th minute. Miller launched the ball into thenet with a header, assisted by teammate Katie Louwsma, for her firstgoal of the season.
But SDSU couldn’t celebrate the lead for too long. Five minuteslater, after the Aztecs took the lead, UCSB came back and tied thingswith a goal off a penalty kick.
Not to be outdone, the Aztecs came right back just 30 secondslater with a score to put them on top again. This time Millerdribbled the ball past Gauchos defenders, and was all alone as hersecond goal found the back of the net.
The Aztecs dominated the entire second half, limiting UCSB to onlyone goal. The Gaucho’s had only a couple shots on the goal after SDSUtook the lead, one of which hit the post and went out of bounds.
Miller attributes the Aztecs success to quicker play.
“We picked up the pace after we made adjustments,” Miller said.”We played really well for only our second game, especially with allthe new players.”
The Aztecs head north next weekend to the Long Beach Tournament.They face University of Southern California, California StateUniversity, Long Beach (1-1), and UCSB (0-1).
Water skiing
The San Diego State water ski team jumped and flipped last weekendat the 2000 NCWSA Western Conference Championship. The team competedagainst 11 schools from the western region at Firebird Lake inPhoenix, Ariz., for a chance to qualify for the nationalchampionships.
There were three events in the competition: slalom, trick andjump. The teams were allowed to enter five men and five women in eachevent. Scores for the events are received individually and alsotallied for an overall team rank.
The Aztecs women finished fourth in the trick event and in theoverall. They placed fifth in the slalom event and tied for sixth inthe jump event. Individually, team captain Kim Blackwell finishedsixth in both the trick and slalom.
Blackwell said she ais impressed with the team’s standings.
“I’m really satisfied with how we did,” Blackwell said. “We didgreat for a 20-person team, with only three returning members.”
SDSU men placed sixth in the overall trick competition and took10th for the slalom event. Individually, Aztecs Ryan Thomas tied for25th in the slalom and Mike Travis placed 20th (out of 40) in trick.Jack Abeling, a first-time jumper, was the only Aztec who landed ajump.
In the trick event, a skier is given 20 seconds to do as manytricks as they can — once they fall, it’s over. Each trick is wortha certain amount of points. Point values rise as the degree ofdifficulty increases. Also, the skier is not judged on style, but onif they can do the trick and land it.
The slalom event is where the speed comes in. The skier must weavethrough six buoys at minimum start speeds of 26 mph for women and 28mph for men. After each completion through the buoys, the speed isincreased 2 mph. The skier who gets the farthest, fastest wins theevent.
Blackwell said the Aztecs had a lot of newcomers that did reallywell. “Most of our team put on a pair of skis for the first time, andthey all did great,” Blackwell said.
