WOMEN'S SOCCER: Aztecs end the regular season with home loss

The San Diego State women’s soccer team has faced a multitude of obstacles over the course of this season.

Whether it has been injuries to key players, tough road trips or just bad breaks, SDSU has struggled to find the success it had last year.

On Friday, the trend continued, as the Aztecs lost 2-1 to TCU in the regular season finale at the SDSU Sports Deck.

Last year, SDSU finished the regular season by defeating the Horned Frogs 1-0 in overtime. But this season, the Aztecs came up on the short end of a dramatic finish.

“We had plenty of chances to win the game,” head coach Mike Friesen said. “I thought we handled (TCU) pretty well, but we have got to be able to finish the game off.”

From the start, SDSU’s momentum was evident in the quality shots the team was taking from the field. The Aztecs’ determination paid off in the 26th minute when junior forward Heather Vandevanter scored her fourth goal of the season on an assist by redshirt sophomore midfielder Cat Walker.

SDSU continued to play with high intensity and appeared to be in control of the game with a 1-0 lead late in the half when the Aztecs’ junior forward Jessica Gordon broke away from the defense, but her shot was stopped by TCU goalkeeper Kelsey Walters.

The Aztecs held a 9-8 advantage in shots going into halftime as well as a 6-1 lead over the Horned Frogs in shots on goal and a had a 6-2 corner kick advantage.

“I thought we played well (in) the first half, took care of business, got a goal and had lots of chances,” Friesen said. “One of the things we talked about at halftime was actually bringing more energy into the second half and I thought the game kind of brought that on itself.”

SDSU came out of the break with confidence and seemed poised to end the season with a big win. But TCU (13-3-2, 4-2-1 in Mountain West Conference play) spoiled the Aztecs’ hopes, as a couple of lucky breaks within a five-minute span resulted in two goals off of rebounds.

SDSU (6-9-3, 2-4-1) kept its tenacity up though and played solid soccer for the rest of the half. The Aztecs dominated the game in terms of shots on goal with nine compared to the Horned Frogs’ four, but they were unable to get any of them past Walters in the second half for a chance at overtime with TCU (13-3-2, 4-2-1 in MWC play).

Despite the loss, SDSU did have something to celebrate over the weekend as a loss by Wyoming resulted in the Aztecs receiving the No. 6 seed in the MWC Tournament, giving SDSU an immediate chance at revenge. The Aztecs will face off against the same Horned Frogs, the No. 3 seed, at noon on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Last year, the Aztecs were bounced in the first round of the MWC Tournament after coming up short against BYU by a score of 2-0.

“We are very excited to be going to the (MWC) tournament and we are looking at it as an opportunity to redeem ourselves,” Walker said. “We need to focus on working together as a team to give us the best chance to be in the championship game.”

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