Getting their kicks: SDSU sweeps soccer double-header

San Diego State University’s men’s and women’s soccer teams hosted a double-header Sunday, Oct. 20, at the SDSU Sports Desk. Both gender sides came up victorious to the delight of their hometown fans.

The Lady Aztecs kicked off the twin bill with a 4-0 win over Fresno State in a Mountain West encounter while the Aztec men followed with a 1-0 victory against San Jose State in a Western Athletic Conference matchup.

The men’s victory marked the first time in school history that SDSU had won five consecutive conference games.

Senior forward Robbie Matei (Prairie Grove, Ill.) earned accolades as the WAC Offensive Player of the Week after notching the game-winning goal in the 74th minute to snap a scoreless tie against the Spartans. The game-winning goal, which came off a corner kick feed from junior teammate Austin Brummett (Bow, N.H.), was Matei’s team-high sixth of the season and fourth game-winning goal.

“We performed really well in the second half,” SDSU head coach Ryan Hopkins said. “Our team’s trademark is resiliency. We just kept going and found a way to break through.”
San Jose State (2-2-2 in WAC, 3-6-6 overall) was unable to break through with just one shot in the first half. The Aztecs improved to 5-0-0 in WAC, 8-4-2 overall.

The SDSU women extended their current unbeaten streak to four games (two wins, two ties) after losses at Utah State (5-1) and Boise State (2-0) as part of a two-week four-game road swing that included draws at Colorado College (0-0) and Air Force (2-2).

The Lady Aztecs (4-2-2 in MW play, 6-7-3 overall) topped San Jose State, 2-1, on the preceding Thursday as coach Mike Friesen collected his MW record 191st career win. Denise Castro (San Ysidro) scored the game-winner on a PK in the 85th minute.

Emma Gaines-Ramos (Otay Ranch) registered a goal and assist in Sunday’s match to bring her to 15 points on the season with five goals and five assists. Castro closed out scoring with her team-leading eighth goal and 17th point.

SDSU goalkeeper Alexa Madueno (Woodland) picked up her school record 27th career shutout while extending her school record career saves to 386.

Getting their kicks, Part II
SDSU’s fortunes improved in both gender fields as the Lady Aztecs clawed back for a 3-3 tie in a road match at Wyoming on Oct 24 and a 1-0 win over visiting Colorado State on Oct. 27 in a pair of MW pairings while the Aztec men battled to a scoreless tie Oct. 24 at University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and edged host Grand Canyon University, 1-0, on Oct. 27 in a pair of WAC matches.

The SDSU men improved to 9-4-3 overall, 6-0-1 in WAC, while the SDSU women improved to 7-7-4 overall, 5-2-3 in conference play.

The Lady Aztecs have earned a berth in the upcoming MW championship tournament (six team qualifiers) and will play at 7 p.m. in Sunday’s quarterfinals. The MW tournament featured three rounds: Sunday (quarterfinals), Wednesday (semifinals) and next Saturday (finals).

Logan Nidy (Fresno), Trinity Coker (Poway) and Castro each scored goals — Coker and Castro in the last 12 minutes — to salvage the draw with the host Cowgirls. Madueno increased her career record save total to 387.

SDSU secured a berth in the upcoming conference tournament at the SDSU Sports Deck with the win over Colorado State. Dori Savage (Mater Dei Catholic) scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute off a smooth pass from Castro as Madueno made eight saves to notch her school record 28th career shutout.

Madueno now has made 395 career saves. She has six shutouts this season.

SDSU honored its 11 seniors prior to the match. The Lady Aztecs concluded home field play with a perfect 5-0 record and 14-1 scoring differential against conference opponents.

Castro tops the Lady Aztecs in season scoring with 20 points (nine goals, two assists), followed by Gaines-Ramos with 16 (five goals, six assists), Coker with 10 points (three goals, four assists).

The SDSU men were out-shot 13-5 in Phoenix but managed to slip through with the win on a goal by Andre Puente (Chihuchua, Mexico) in the 14th minute. Terence Okoeguele (Cologne, Germany) started the play with a pass to Reid Fisher (Huntington Beach), whose header found Puente for the only goal of the match.

Head coach Ryan Hopkins called the victory a “huge gritty performance on the road.”

“We weren’t at our best, but the guys literally touched every blade of gras on the field to secure the win,” he said.

The ninth conference win of the season was the most for SDSU since the 2016 season. It clinched a berth in the WAC semifinals.

Against GCU, SDSU goalkeeper Djibril Domubia (Boulder, Colo.) recorded his third consecutive shutout. Against, UT-RGV, he made four saves to record his fourth shutout in six matches.

JC soccer: Lady Jags get back in the win column as monster season continues

Southwestern College defeated Palomar College, 9-1, on Oct. 25 to improve to 10-1-1 in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play, 15-1-1 overall.

The Lady Jags had cobbled together a 15-game (14-0-1) record to kick-start the season before suffering their first loss of the 2024 campaign, 3-2, at MiraCosta on Oct. 22.

In the Oct. 25th win over the Lady Comets, Jenica Stell had three goals, Katelyne Gonzlaez had one goal and two assists, Aailia Montano had two goals and one assist, Gialli Francisco had one goal and one assist, and Camila Mendoza and Isabella Parcel each had one goal.

Southwestern’s final regular season game is Nov. 8 against Grossmont College, 6 p.m. at DeVore Stadium.