Game Week Preview
Pepperdine (2-5; 0-0 WCC) at San Diego State (2-4; 0-0 MW)
Friday, Sept. 14 | 4 p.m. PT | Mountain West Network | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
[8] UCLA (3-1-1; 0-0 Pac-12) at San Diego State (2-4; 0-0 MW)
Sunday, Sept. 16 | 6 p.m. PT | Mountain West Network | SDSU Sports Deck | San Diego, Calif.
Notes
- San Diego State returns home this week to start a three-game homestand after a grueling stretch of four consecutive road dates. The Aztecs will play host to Pepperdine Friday afternoon before facing No. 8 UCLA on Sunday night. Both games will stream live on the Mountain West Network. The first 250 fans on Sunday will receive a free SDSU women's soccer t-shirt.
- SDSU had multiple goal scorers in a game for the first time this season last Friday at USD. Sophomore Sarah Broacha sliced the Aztecs' deficit in half five seconds before intermission and classmate Phoebe Leitch added a goal in the 88th minute of a road loss.
- Broacha and Leitch were first-time goal scorers in 2018. San Diego State now has six players with one goal apiece heading into this weekend. Each player also matched their season total from a year ago.
- With Broacha and Leitch finding the back of the net, they snapped a streak of five straight goals being scored by true freshmen. The run started with then-freshman Mia Root scoring at UCLA in the 2017 NCAA tournament and continued with consecutive goals this season by freshmen Taylor Moorehead (vs. New Mexico State), Lauren Dicus (vs. Texas Tech), Florence Laroche (at California) and Lovisa Norrby (at UC Davis).
- Sophomore Chloe Frisch assisted on Leitch's goal, giving her two on the season. The Solana Beach native is tied for the team lead with senior Nikolina Musto and needs one more assist to match her career high.
- Half of San Diego State's six goals have come off headers. Dicus and Norrby scored off corner kicks by Musto and Leitch tickled the twine off a cross from the aforementioned Frisch.
- The Aztecs will hope a change of scenery will bode well for them after completing their four-game road stretch with a 1-3 record. San Diego State is 1-1 at SDSU Sports Deck this season and is even in goal differential at 2-2. On the road, however, the Aztecs have been outscored, 9-4.
- Entering the USD game, junior goalkeeper Gabby English had moved past Linnea Quinones into fifth place on the SDSU career saves list after an eight-save performance at UC Davis. Against the Toreros, English made a game-high six stops, giving her 193 in her career and propelling her past Katherine Judkins for fourth all-time. Lorena Snyder currently sits in third place with 204 career saves from 1990-93.
- Through the first five games of 2018, head coach Mike Friesen used five different starting lineups. That changed at USD when he went with the same 11 as he did that produced a 1-0 road win at UC Davis. The group did not produce a victory, but it did supply SDSU's first multi-goal game of the year.
- The Aztecs will look to close their non-conference portion of the schedule on a positive note before heading into Mountain West action. SDSU will have to do so against a pair of teams that advanced to the 2017 NCAA tournament. Despite this weekend's outcomes, SDSU will look to build on its momentum from last year as it currently has a four-game regular-season winning streak against conference foes and has won six in row vs. MW competition.
- San Diego State will look to get back into the win column vs. a Pepperdine program that it is 3-5 all-time against (2-2 at home). The Aztecs, however, won the last meeting in San Diego back in 2012. The teams last met in 2013 in Malibu with the Waves emerging with the 2-0 victory.
- SDSU is in search of its second win vs. UCLA and first since 1998, when it earned a 1-0 decision. Other than a 2-2 double-overtime draw in America's Finest City in 1995, the Bruins have won the other 14 get-togethers.
- San Diego State will face its first nationally ranked opponent of the season in UCLA. The Aztecs won their last regular-season game against a nationally ranked team -- a 2-1 double-overtime victory at No. 22 Nebraska on Sept. 8, 2017.
Opponent Notebook
Pepperdine
The Waves visit the Aztecs after splitting two games last week, a 3-0 loss at UCLA and a 1-0 home win over St. John's... Pepperdine's other win was a 1-0 decision against Brown in Malibu... Other than UCLA, Pepperdine and SDSU share Texas Tech as a common opponent with both teams falling to the Red Raiders... The Waves have scored three goals all season -- one from Brie Welch, Joelle Anderson and Hailey Stenberg... Brielle Preece has logged 388:11 in goal over five games and has a GAA of 2.32 with 11 saves... Zoe Clevely, meanwhile, has played 241:49 between the posts and owns a 0.74 GAA and 11 stops.
UCLA
The Bruins have experienced all three possible outcomes in their last three outings, tying No. 22 Florida, 0-0, in Gainesville, losing at No. 4 Florida State, 4-1, and defeating Pepperdine, 3-0, last week... UCLA opened with a 1-0 win vs. Long Beach State and a 2-1 win at third-ranked Penn State... The Bruins will face LMU on Thursday ahead of their match-up with SDSU... Ashley Sanchez and Maricarmen Reyes lead the team with two goals apiece... Sanchez owns a team-best five points... Anika Rodriguez leads all Bruins with two assists... Teagan Micah has played all but 45 minutes in net this season and has a GAA of 1.06 with 16 saves.
W. Soccer Welcomes Pepperdine, UCLA to Campus
