Sophomore forward Angela Mitchell scored the deciding and only goal just after the 69th minute and the San Diego State women’s soccer team’s defense proved why it’s the defending Mountain West champions en route to a 1-0 victory over visiting Florida Gulf Coast University on Sunday.
“I finally relaxed and did what I know how to do,” Mitchell said. “It’s nothing new.”
After struggling on the attacking front the first period, the Aztecs broke through in the second half to improve their record to 3-2 while delivering the Eagles their second loss of the season on Mitchell’s third goal of the year.
“I just think my first couple of shots, I was overwhelmed and frustrated and I rushed myself and panicked but on the last one I finally did what I know how to do best.” she said.
The win came on the heels of back-to-back tough losses at UC Berkeley (0-2) and University of Arizona (0-1), with the match at Arizona State having been rained out.
“We didn’t play our best at (California) and we played very well against Arizona … we dominated in pretty much every facet except the scoreboard,” head coach Mike Friesen said. “We felt like we gained some momentum off how we played against Arizona coming into this game.”
Although the offense was admittedly sparse, sophomore forward Aliyah Utush provided the lone assist to Mitchell’s goal, while freshman forward Leah Pruitt had a shot on goal as well.
The Aztecs had 10 shots as a team overall, while senior goalkeeper Melanie Vaughn had three saves, one coming in the first half and the other two the second.
Not only was the victory notable in the standings, but it was in the record books as well, as it was Friesen’s 100th career win as head coach of SDSU’s women’s soccer team.
With an overall record of 100-55-22, Friesen is already the second most winningest coach in SDSU, only behind former man-in-charge Chuck Clegg who incurred 122 wins in his tenure in 1989 and from 1994-2003.
“Whenever you look at a program that’s done well it’s obviously not only me, [I’ve had] my wife and family for support,” Friesen said. “The players I’ve had have been awesome girls. My staff (too).”
“It’s just like a whole team effort. Every person that touches our program has a hand in this. We want to see if we can get another 100 even faster!” he laughed.
Next up for the Aztecs is a cross-town match against University of San Diego, which comes in with a record of 1-3-1 following a loss against University of Utah. USD plays one more match against USC on Tuesday before stopping by the SDSU Sports Deck.
Mitchell also had some words for then, as well as the rest of the season:
“We’re gonna kill it. We’re gonna smash it. Beat USD!”
