By Brian MontgomeryStaff Writer

Building on momentum.

This is what the San Diego State women’s soccer team will be doingto prepare for the 2001 season. After a disappointing 3-9 start, SDSUwon five of its last nine games and advanced to the semifinals of theMountain West Conference Tournament. But the Aztecs are wasting notime dwelling on the past. Preparation will begin soon.

“We are going to get working on our fitness right away,” said headcoach Chuck Clegg. “The team as a whole was not preparedfitness-wise. We had a lot of key injuries at the beginning of theyear and that hurt us as well.”

Senior defender Alicia Orsini, whose presence would have sparkedthe defense, sprained her medial collateral ligament midway throughthe 1999 season and missed all of 2000. She was given a medicalredshirt and will be back next year. Serena Pearson had to recoverfrom a car accident over the summer and forward Kim Rogers came intotraining camp with an ankle injury.

Even before the injuries, the season looked like one of therebuilding variety. SDSU brought in three transfers, two juniorcollege All-Americans and five freshmen.

The Aztecs’ record stood at 2-1 when disaster struck. Afterdefeating the Naval Academy Sept. 1, SDSU lost seven of its eightgames leading up to conference play, including six straight on theroad.

“Our road schedule was rough,” Clegg said. “It really affected ourconfidence. We were having trouble scoring. The whole team wasstruggling at all positions.”

However, conference play brought a new Aztecs team to theforefront. They went 4-2 in conference play, winning all four gamesat home. The two road games they lost were to the teams that finishedin front of them (BYU and Utah). SDSU ended up grabbing the thirdseed in the tournament, but was ousted by Utah in the semifinals.

Clegg said the Aztecs should have beaten the Utes.

“We did everything we should’ve done to win that game except scoregoals,” he said. “We out-shot them, but we just didn’t get it done.”

Cleggsaid he was happy with the way the team ended the season, but itshould have been at the same point four games in.

“This year was a spiral up and down,” he said. “We’re used towinning here. The way we will get back to doing that is hard work.Like I tell my players, ‘If you work hard, everything will fall inplace. There is no short-cut for success.'”

Forwards

This area was a question mark coming into the season in 2000.Consider that question answered.

Freshman Kim Castellanos made an immediate impact, scoring on herfirst shot of the season. She showed flashes of brilliance this yearby leading the team in scoring with 10 goals and 21 points. She alsoscored back-to-back hat tricks and was named to the All-Conferenceteam, as well as co-Freshman of the Year.

Also contributing was junior Nicole Findlay. She started off onfire, scoring two goals in her first game and was named MWC Player ofthe Week. Rogers scored only two goals this year — but they came atthe most important time — during the tournament. With a year ofplaying together, this trio will be heard from next season.

Midfield

As the midfield went, so went the Aztecs. Leading the charge wasjunior Fay deLeon and senior Elicia Petre. With eight assists thisseason, deLeon led SDSU and moved into third in Aztecs history. Shewas also named first team All-MWC. Petre added five assists in herfinal season at SDSU. She leaves Montezuma Mesa with 51 careerpoints, fifth all-time.

Jane Specht broke her foot mid-season, but returned and showed theskills that made her a junior college All-American. Nikki Torruellaand Kristin Rogers also started in the midfield and will be back nextseason.

Defense

The Aztecs’ entire backline will be back in 2001 and will beexperienced. By the end of the year, Shawni Flint, Hannah Garl, BeckyPrilaman and Lyn Splittgerber came into their own as a unit. As thesweeper, Flint anchored the line and Garl became a force againstopponent’s forwards.

“Shawni and Hannah came up big for us at the end,” Clegg said.”Becky proved to everyone that she can play at the Division I level.And so did Lyn, by working her way into the starting line-up.”

If the defense plays next year the way it played at the end ofthis season, it has the potential to shut down any offense it plays.

Goalkeeper

Another reason to believe SDSU will be able to shut down opposingoffenses in 2001 is the play of junior Linnea Qui