Defense, confidence and a budding star helpAztecs to first place in the MWC

BySean WilsonStaff Writer

Friday morning, San Diego State was in the midst of the worstseason in the 12-year history of the women’s soccer program.

Sunday night, it was in first place in the Mountain WestConference.

What happened?

SDSU played its best soccer of the season by defeating MWC foesAir Force and Wyoming and starting the conference season 2-0. TheAztecs squad that took out the Falcons and Cowgirls was clearlydifferent than the one that started the season 3-9, breaking theprogram record for losses before conference play even began.

Though the squad improved in all aspects of the game, three areasin particular stood out as the difference between the team thatstumbled to a 3-9 start and the team that is 2-0 in the MWC:

Witness for the defense

Without a doubt, the biggest adjustment the Aztecs made was theirdefense. After allowing 11.8 shots per game through the first 12games, SDSU limited Air Force to just nine on Friday, and Wyomingcould muster only five attempts on Sunday.

“(The defense) busted their butts out there” said forward KimCastellanos. “We’ve been working a lot on defense, and the first gameboosted our confidence, all of us. They did a really good job.”

Goalkeeper Linnea Qui