Double overtime draw marks the ninth extra-time game of the year for SDSU
Overtime tests a team like nothing else: exhausting its physical limit and pushing its mental game as far as possible. The players of the San Diego State men’s soccer team know that as well as anyone.
While most students were out and about until the early hours of the morning on Halloween weekend, the San Diego State women’s soccer team celebrated in a very different way.
Despite a sluggish start against the Lobos, Aztecs win close game
It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy. At times, it was downright hard to watch. But on Saturday, Halloween night, the San Diego State football team improved to 4-4 (2-2 in Mountain West Conference play).
Against a winless New Mexico team (0-8, 0-4 MWC) SDSU gritted out a 23-20 win in front of a meager crowd of fewer than 13,000.
But keeping consistent with his mantra of there being “no good losses,” head coach Brady Hoke reiterated that there are no bad wins.
San Diego State’s star junior receiver Vincent Brown didn’t play on Saturday night against New Mexico and missed more than a half against Colorado State on Oct. 24 because of an injured right thumb. Yet without the electrifying Brown, sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley has played the best football of his young career.
In the past eight quarters alone, Lindley has thrown for 712 yards and a staggering nine touchdowns.
New Mexico is 0-7 this season, has lost by 17 or more points in six of its seven games and ranks, at best, 100th in the nation in six of the eight most important statistical categories. Yet despite knowing all that, the San Diego State football team has some serious motivation to take down the Lobos on Saturday.
SDSU plays its last regular season game against TCU
It’s that time of year.
The fog rolls in, Jack-O’-Lanterns come out, and the San Diego State women’s soccer team tries to finish its season on top.
SDSU won its fourth straight game last weekend in Las Vegas, participating in the third consecutive game where a goal was scored in the first 10 minutes of play.
Humble doesn’t even begin to describe Raymundo Reza. The San Diego State men’s soccer junior forward has accepted recognition but doesn’t think twice about it or even take credit.
It’s all about the team for him.
It happened more than three years ago, but it is something that Courtney Lamphier will always remember. It was the day that the senior defensive specialist’s career on the San Diego State volleyball team began.
Then-head coach Mark Warner had just let the walk-on freshman know that she had made it.
But it didn’t quite sink in until she called her brother.
Phillip Wong contributes to San Diego State hockey with a no-fear attitude. He acts as the current club president and plays a physical game as a grinder.
“I like to get dirty in the corners, take and receive big hits,” Wong said. “To me no team or player is intimidating.”
There’s something to be said for a team that can set a goal and meet it consistently.
“These last five games we outlined a goal for ourselves,” head coach Mike Friesen said. “It was to score in the first 15 minutes, get a shutout and win.”
Sunday’s game in Las Vegas followed that outline, continuing the success the San Diego State women’s soccer team has ignited.
Sunday was a rarity and a game Raymundo Reza will add to his collection of outstanding performances. The junior forward did something he has only done twice in his career and one other time this season for the San Diego State men’s soccer team: tally two goals in a single game.
Reza’s two goals would set the tone and end for the game, as SDSU (6-4-4) would shut down No. 11 California getting its second victory against the Bears in one week on the road.
With no time left in the first half against Colorado State on Saturday, the San Diego State football team was down by 14, had given up more than 100 yards on the ground, and had watched its star junior wide receiver, Vincent Brown, run off the field with a thumb injury.
It was a scene SDSU had seen before.
The beginning of this month wasn’t kind to the San Diego State volleyball team, as it lost three consecutive Mountain West Conference matches.
But things have changed since then.
SDSU is currently on a four-match winning streak, with the most recent being a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 26-24) victory against Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at the Icardo Center.
Tomorrow's final home match of this season is Senior Day
The last home game of the season is Senior Day, and emotions are apparent. But the San Diego State women’s soccer team is making sure it doesn’t lose focus on its goals.
Cardenas, Wallace and McManus lead SDSU to Palo Alto to face Stanford
One forward, one midfielder and one defender: Three separate responsibilities, talents and styles all add up to one heart. The heart of the San Diego State men’s soccer team has had three faces this season, senior tri-captains Matt McManus, Jamel Wallace and Nick Cardenas.
For head coach Brady Hoke, there is no such thing as a moral victory. So when the San Diego State football team came close to knocking off then-No. 18 BYU at Qualcomm Stadium this past Saturday, Hoke made sure the media knew he wasn’t happy losing by 10 points.
State-of-the-art 26-foot by 15-foot LED scoreboard added to Viejas Arena
San Diego State men’s basketball sophomore forward Tim Shelton has never been a wristband- or headband-wearing guy. He’s always preferred a more humble basketball game attire.
But now that SDSU’s Viejas Arena has a new, state-of-the-art scoreboard — which will make Aztec players more visible than ever – Shelton has had to rethink some parts of his on-court style.
“Maybe I’ll make sure I shave a little bit more,” Shelton joked.
It was all planned out.
Hannah Evans would be joining the San Diego State volleyball team after graduating from Kingwood High School in Texas. But in an instant, that plan changed.
Chris Wolfinger had just made it. He was playing in his first college hockey game as a freshman against UNLV for the San Diego State ice hockey team. But when the game was finished, so were at least the next couple of months for Wolfinger.
The scene was all too familiar: a one-goal lead stolen away in the final minutes of regulation, forcing overtime against a nationally ranked team because of a controversial call.
Aztecs defeat Air Force in Mountain West face-off
The San Diego State women’s soccer team needed just one goal to seal the victory on Saturday, and they got it early on.
At the 3 minute 36 seconds mark, junior midfielder Michaela DeJesus scored straight off a deflected block. The unassisted shot was the only shot DeJesus took the whole evening.
Her second goal of the season proved to be all SDSU would get, but also all it would need for the 1-0 win.
In what was possibly the best game of his young career, it was Ryan Lindley’s one big mistake that may have cost his team the upset victory.
With the San Diego State football team tied 14-14 with No. 18 Brigham Young, the sophomore quarterback drove his team 56 yards to the BYU 9-yard line late in the second half.
But an interception in the endzone effectively prevented SDSU from posting any more points before halftime and allowed his counterpart, Cougar quarterback Max Hall, to drive 80 yards down the field and score on a 1-yard run as time ran out in the second half.
Last Tuesday, San Diego State football head coach Brady Hoke said BYU senior quarterback Max Hall was “one of the best two or three quarterbacks in this country.”
On Saturday, Hall showed why.
In a 38-28 victory against SDSU, Hall wouldn’t let his No. 18 Cougars go down. He carried the rock 14 times for 51 yards and a touchdown, completed 27 of his 39 passes for 346 yards and tallied three touchdowns through the air.
But his statistics only tell part of the story.
Collins-Parker's team wins Mountain West Conference game 3-0 against Air Force
It had been almost two months since the San Diego State volleyball team recorded a 3-0 sweep.
On Aug. 28, SDSU swept Seattle in its season opener, but in the Aztecs’ 16 matches since, they’ve lost at least one set in every contest.
That changed on Friday night as SDSU (8-10, 3-5 Mountain West Conference) finished off Air Force (8-12, 0-8) in straight sets (25-19, 25-12, 25-17) at Peterson Gym to notch its second straight MWC win and clinch the eighth consecutive loss for the Falcons.
The San Diego State football team is coming off a bye week, which head coach Brady Hoke said was very good for the players.
“In this day and age of football, this is a 12-month-a-year undertaking for kids,” Hoke said. “I think it’s important during that bye week to get them some time to get off their feet and to mentally get themselves ready for what’s ahead of them in this marathon.”
Kristi Jackels made her decision at the last second.
Instead of accepting a scholarship to play at another college, the defensive specialist would attend San Diego State and walk on the volleyball team.
Jackels didn’t have a problem getting a spot, but the experience tested her.
Playing a nationally ranked team is hard enough. Playing without 15 points and senior leadership makes the task even tougher.
There may be such a thing as love at first sight, but for San Diego State women’s soccer midfielder Cat Walker, there’s certainly no such thing as love at first practice.
Passion overwhelms the field nowadays for the redshirt junior, but soccer was not always enjoyable for SDSU’s most dynamic player.
This year, the San Diego State cross country team has two new coaches in head coach Shelia Burrell and assistant coach Jason Karp, Ph.D. The new coaches have added a system that defies the typical athletic motto of “winning is everything.” This season, the goal is to work on new facets of the game every race until the Mountain West Conference meet at the end of the semester.
Sunday was a typical match between the San Diego State men’s soccer team and No. 2 UCLA. It had four goals, seven cards handed out and several heated tempers. After it was all said and done the field was filled with sweat, blood and frustration.
The knock-down, drag-out slugfest went for 110 minutes and ended in an unforgiving 2-2 tie.
Ben Nicoll led the San Diego State hockey team with six goals this weekend as SDSU detonated an offensive explosion that left opposing goalies ducking for cover.
The Aztecs won comfortably against CSU Long Beach on Saturday at Glacial Gardens Skating Arena in Long Beach by the score of 8-6. Senior forward Anthony Sansone led SDSU with three goals and the Aztecs capitalized five times in special teams situations, which would be the key factor in the game.
“It was an issue in the first couple games,” assistant coach David Hough said. “We worked on it. Now the penalty kill is clicking and the power play is moving.”
Aztecs finish with more corner kicks and shots on goal, but can't get the victory at home
There was unanimous agreement amongst the San Diego State women’s soccer team about why a win against Utah on Saturday afternoon was inaccessible: The team just couldn’t find the back of the net.
With more than three times as many shots as its opponent, SDSU still couldn’t defeat visiting Utah on Saturday at the SDSU Sports Deck.
It was a long Saturday afternoon for the San Diego State volleyball team.
SDSU appeared to have the match in hand after taking the opening two sets against Wyoming, but allowed the Cowgirls to mount a comeback.
Ultimately, Wyoming’s comeback bid fell short, as the Aztecs were able to scratch out a 3-2 victory at Peterson Gym.
Looking to build off of a lesson-learning, 20th-place meet on Sept. 26 at the Stanford Invitational, the goal for the San Diego State cross country team this past Saturday was simple: Stay focused and execute the game plan.
Editor’s note: Each week, The Daily Aztec will pick the winners of every Mountain West Conference game.
Aztecs take on Pac-10 rival UCLA in pivotal home game on Sunday
The San Diego State men’s soccer team will play 19 games this season. None, however, will be quite like those against UCLA. The intensity, the heated rivalry, the animosity mixed with respect sums up what playing the Bruins feels like.
Many miles north of San Diego, across the U.S. border in Canada is where Caitlin McMillan’s story begins.
In her hometown of Coquitlam, British Columbia, McMillan found her passion for volleyball.
She started in fifth grade and each year played on club teams with girls who were one-to-two years older.
But it was uncertain if volleyball would be there after high school.
Some teams pray together before games. Some teams have group dinners the night before a big match.
The San Diego State women’s soccer team dances.
On Mondays, Justo “Juice” Vazquez changes to a different person. He brushes his teeth a little harder and he ties his shoes a little tighter. But it’s not that he cares for fresh breath more than anyone else does on the first day of the week. Vazquez does it because he’s jacked up. And why wouldn’t he be? Mondays are flag football game day, baby.
When junior middle blocker Lauren Salisbury was named to the preseason all-Mountain West Conference volleyball team, it was clear that she would play an important role for the San Diego State volleyball team this year. Not only did she finish last season as an all-conference selection, but she led SDSU in hitting with a .344 percentage. But she brings more than just talent to the Aztecs.
Junior goalkeeper tallies 206th career save, giving her the SDSU school record
Home matches have been goldmines for the San Diego State women’s soccer team this season.
Going into Sunday’s game, SDSU was 4-1-1 in home games. The Aztecs found success once again at the SDSU Sports Deck on Sunday, when they were able to shut out Seattle University.
Junior Goalie Aubree Southwick helped SDSU achieve its fifth shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory against Seattle in the Aztec Classic.
Aztecs fall 2-1 to OSU and lose for first time since Sept. 6
Defeat leaves a sour taste, one the San Diego State men’s soccer team hadn’t tasted in six games within a span of 28 days.
SDSU (3-3-3) was left with the this taste on Sunday as No. 37 Oregon State handed the Aztecs their third loss of the season, 2-1, in overtime.
After dropping the opening two sets of Saturday’s match against TCU, the San Diego State volleyball team needed to regroup.
The Horned Frogs had been in control up to this point and SDSU was on the verge of being swept.
If the five-turnover performance against Air Force on Oct. 3 wasn’t sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley’s career-worst statistical game, then Saturday’s 7-for-27 outing against New Mexico State certainly was.
Kazee rushes for more than 100 yards and Hemmings scores on fumble recovery
In Saturday’s game against New Mexico State, the San Diego State football team was not its stereotypical self.
The much-maligned running game featured an inspired effort by the SDSU offensive line and 101 yards on the ground with a touchdown for freshman running back Walter Kazee.
It didn’t take more than three minutes for the San Diego State women’s soccer team to seal the deal.
Three minutes of overtime, that is, for SDSU to score the winning goal that would clinch a victory against UC Irvine Sunday afternoon.
After two consecutive wins, the regionally 10th-ranked Aztecs kept the homefield momentum against Irvine, which is ranked ninth in the Pacific region.
The score alone cannot sum up the past weekend for the San Diego State men’s soccer team; the story is in three separate styles of celebration.
It’s the “Ray Ray,” the “Stanky Leg” and the one with the team that exhibits just how far SDSU (3-2-2) has come so far this season.
The first celebration during a 4-2 win came 22 minutes into Friday’s game against No. 6 UC Santa Barbara at the SDSU Sports Deck. Junior forward Raymundo Reza finished off a silky pass from classmate forward Khadim Diouf, allowing the Aztecs to draw first blood.
SDSU finishes in 20th place out of 22 at Stanford Invitational
Five runners for the San Diego State cross country team all set personal bests for this year on Saturday, but had a tough time executing the plan laid out by the coaches.
With two new coaches and a young squad, the focus this year for SDSU has been to retrain and rethink long distance running.
Earlier this month against St. Mary’s, the San Diego State volleyball team was unable to take advantage of a career day by Kelsey Manasco in a 3-1 loss.
But that was not the case Saturday afternoon.
The junior outside hitter’s career-best 24 kills lead SDSU to a 3-2 victory against UNLV at Peterson Gym.
San Diego State football quarterback Ryan Lindley once threw five interceptions in a game as a freshman at El Capitan High School. He says he hasn’t thrown that many in a single game since.
But on Saturday against Air Force, he sure came close.
Listening to San Diego State football head coach Brady Hoke talk about the triple option offense is a little bit like sitting through a math class. There are a whole lot of steps, formulas and solutions; and in the end, somehow it all makes sense.
Last weekend was a rough time to be a Mountain West Conference team. Two of the three MWC Bowl Championship Series’ “party crashers” faltered —BYU was trounced by Florida State, 54-28; while Utah lost to Oregon, 31-24 — and the San Diego State football team was beaten by Western Athletic Conference member Idaho. Now, only two teams, Colorado State and TCU, remain undefeated this season in the MWC.
Here’s a look around the Mountain to see whom the MWC will play this Saturday.
Sophomore defender Hayley Marsh’s photo was plastered all across San Diego State’s official athletic site, www.goaztecs.com, but she hadn’t seen or heard why until her phone rang.
The most important thing about being a team captain is excelling in leadership, both on and off the field. One of the senior tri-captains for the San Diego State men’s soccer team has been forced to focus more on the off-the-field part this year.
A third-grade Paije Pearson sat down, stared at her father and watched his mouth mold into a question.
“Are you really interested in playing?”
Pearson, who had just made her club volleyball team, looked up, smiled, and told her dad, yes, “I really like it.”
From that point on, Pearson was addicted to volleyball.
A few years removed from a run to the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III National Championship game, the San Diego State ice hockey team is looking to make noise in the ACHA Division II West Region.
It took a while to heat up, but once it did, there were some flaring tempers.
In its Sunday afternoon game, the San Diego State women’s soccer team steered clear of wild activity from the visiting bench of CSU Long Beach.
Forty-eight minutes into his third collegiate game for the San Diego State men’s soccer team, Devon Sandoval knew everything was going to be just fine.
The freshman forward could feel nothing but relief and joy as he witnessed the ball wrinkle the twine in the back of the net.
Though the San Diego State hockey team lacked consistent energy, the team made up for it with its offense.
SDSU kicked off its season with a win Friday against the College of the Canyons by a score of 7-5.
While San Diego State lost 34-20 at Idaho, it was a rough day overall for the Mountain West Conference.
On paper, the San Diego State football team should beat Idaho.
Statistically, the SDSU running game should wear out the Vandal defense while the Aztecs’ passing offense exploits mismatches.
Theoretically, SDSU’s 3-3-5 defense should be too much for Idaho to handle.
But as the cliché goes, that’s why they play the games.
Last season, the San Diego State volleyball team found success on the road with upset victories against BYU and TCU.
But the opponent’s home floor has not been as kind to SDSU so far this season.
Brady Hoke has been known to be quite the motivator in his past several months as head coach of the San Diego State football team, but this week, he’s taken motivation to a new level. In the Aztec Athletics Center, where SDSU works out, watches film and studies; on almost every door there is a piece of paper with Idaho’s logo on it, reading “Beat the Vandals!”
After starting the season off 0-2-1, SDSU goes for two in a row
It only took 400 minutes, 69 shots, 16 saves and six goals for the San Diego State men’s soccer team to reach its first win of the season. Now that SDSU (1-2-1) has achieved that first benchmark this year, the Aztecs are working to keep the desire to win every game like it’s the first.
After a treacherous journey across America, the recovery period has begun.
The San Diego State women’s soccer team has traveled so much this year, it’s beginning to affect everyone involved.
“When we went up to Riverside last weekend,” head coach Mike Friesen said, “I was exhausted, and I didn’t even play.”
From Harvard to Arizona State, SDSU has faced many teams throughout the last few weeks and is coming home with two wins, two losses and two ties, bringing the Aztecs’ record to 3-3-2 this season.
However, the schedule is now in their favor, because as they will spend the next seven games at home.
“I’ve been around for three years,” senior forward Jessica Gordon said. “But all the traveling this year was starting to take a toll on my body. Being at home you get to sleep in your own bed and relax more instead of being on the go.”
Gordon has played in all eight games this season and shoots 73 percent of her shots on goal. She scored a goal in one of the biggest games of the season thus far, against one of the top four teams in the nation: Stanford. Her goal helped SDSU hold the biggest lead against the Cardinal for any team in the last two years.
Kyley Sexton is not the only person passionate about sports in her family.
Her mother played volleyball at Oregon State, her twin brother competes on the track team at Boise State and her aunt won a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics.
Sandoval is a big body up front for the San Diego State men’s soccer team. He is a true freshman coming out of New Mexico where he led his high school to two state championships and three district championships. At 6 feet 1 inch, 200 pounds, Sandoval is the biggest of SDSU’s forwards and is an excellent compliment to redshirt senior tri-captain Matt McManus and junior Khadim Diouf up front.
Before they were the San Diego State women’s ultimate Frisbee club team, they were a ragtag bunch of Frisbee flingers who’d eventually call themselves the Muchachas de la Noche (the Cha Chas) — girls of the night.
Senior seals victory with penalty shot in second overtime
Evan Toft would not be denied on Sunday. The senior midfielder knew how much the San Diego State men’s soccer team needed a win. He knew that it didn’t matter how long the game went, as long as SDSU (1-2-1) came out on top.
Statistically, Kelsey Manasco could not have asked for a better showing.
The junior right side hitter set career highs in kills and digs.
But the San Diego State volleyball team was unable to take advantage of her performance and dropped a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20) decision to St. Mary’s on Sunday in Peterson Gym.
After a disappointing 2008, SDSU looks to bounce back this fall
For most people, running five miles in one day seems like an impossible feat. For others, five miles in one week is even asking too much. For the athletes of the San Diego State cross country team, a five mile run fits in with brushing their teeth or tying their shoes.
On Sky Show night; on home-opening victory night; on Brady Hoke’s first-ever win as San Diego State football head coach night; it’s just a shame that it came to this.
Offense dominates on the ground and in the air at Qualcomm Stadium
It was in front of probably the biggest crowd they’ll see at home this year — against a Football Championship Subdivision school.
In short, it was a game the San Diego State football team was supposed to win. While it wasn’t perfect or flashy, SDSU (1-1) took care of business against Southern Utah (1-1) on Saturday night, winning 35-19.
After San Diego State football head coach Brady Hoke apologized to the Red and Black faithful for losing 33-14 to UCLA at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, he made a statement that sounded more like a promise than a coaching cliché.
One thing that has been consistent in the first two games for the San Diego State men’s soccer team is the lack of focus for the entire game.
SDSU finishes out six-game road trip against ASU and UCR
If flying all around the country every weekend isn’t stressful enough, try traveling and playing the same day.
That’s what the San Diego State women’s soccer team will have to do tomorrow.
SDSU will fly out in the early afternoon and will take on Arizona State for an evening game.
“The nice part,” head coach Mike Friesen said, “is we’ll be closer to home, we’re familiar with their style of play and we already know they have a really nice field that’s very similar to our field.”
These benefits may not sound like much, but it is certainly more welcoming than what the Aztecs have been accustomed to these past few weeks.
SDSU struggled to a tie last Friday against Harvard, and came out on top of a close match against Dartmouth on Sunday. The two games shared some similarities despite the different outcomes.
Junior midfielder Cat Walker’s game-winning drive from 20 yards out on Sunday against Dartmouth hit the crossbar and post at the same time, bounced off of the goalie and into the net.
At some point, Andrea Hannasch became more interested in volleyball than softball.
She played a lot of softball growing up and volleyball was just her “fun” sport.
SDSU's offense struggles again, falls to crosstown rival Toreros at home
A year ago, the San Diego State men’s soccer team netted eight goals in its first two games. Through its first two games of the 2009 season, SDSU (0-2-0) has only been able to tally a single goal — a simple explanation of why the Aztecs have slipped to a winless record.
After an entire game without a single goal from either side, the fate of two teams was decided with 42 seconds remaining.
With 89:18 on the clock, San Diego State women’s soccer junior midfielder Cat Walker shot the ball from 20 yards out, banked it off the crossbar, bounced it off of the opposing goalie and landed it in the net.
Starting this Thursday, The Daily Aztec Sports section will run its “Forecasting the Mountain” segment in the weekly San Diego State football preview page. In the segment, several members of the DA’s Sports staff will pick the winners of the weekend’s upcoming Mountain West Conference games.
But before the crew gets started on the 2009 MWC season, The Daily Aztec Sports section has decided to release its first-ever Preseason MWC Poll. Here is how the section feels the MWC will play out this season.
After two wins and a loss, Deitre Collins-Parker called her first weekend as head coach of the San Diego State volleyball team a “big relief.”
and 
