WOMEN'S SOCCER: Tourneu begins

Over the past two and half months, it has been on the mind of each player on the San Diego State women’s soccer team.

It is what the top six teams in the conference have been waiting for since the first whistle was blown in late August.

It is the Mountain West Conference Tournament which starts today at noon when SDSU battles TCU in a grudge match at Peter Johann Memorial Stadium in Las Vegas.

“With TCU fresh in our minds and having played so well against them, I’m feeling pretty good about playing them again,” head coach Mike Friesen said. “And I think the team is pretty fired up to play (TCU) again because they felt like they outplayed them.”

The Aztecs did outplay the Horned Frogs this past Friday, but were unable to pick up a win because of a couple breaks that didn’t go in their favor.

It was another frustrating loss for SDSU in a season that has not completely lived up to Friesen’s expectations after last year’s success.

“This year, I’m obviously a little disappointed on how we’re going into the (MWC) tournament, as far as our seed,” Friesen said. “But at this point, I feel like it’s a fresh season and it doesn’t matter what the little number next to our name is.”

Friesen added that the team has more of an ability to win it all, with the increased skill on the attacking side of the ball. Sophomore Cat Walker, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, has added an element to the offense that the team lacked last season. The midfielder has tallied nine goals and three assists this season.

Forward Jessica Gordon, another offensive threat who missed a large portion of last season because of injury, has also been a significant contributor. The junior has scored five goals and two assists this season.

A successful offense won’t be the Aztecs’ only chance at a victory, though, as they will turn to senior goalkeeper Christi Yount to keep TCU off the board.
Yount, who has filled in admirably for the injured sophomore All-American goalkeeper Aubree Southwick, has recorded two shutouts since taking over on Oct. 9.

“It was an unfortunate circumstance that Aubree was injured, but I pride myself in working hard every day at practice knowing something could come up,” Yount said. “Coming off the bench has taught me to never take for granted the playing time I get and it has been a great experience to be able to end my career playing.”

SDSU has struggled to play well for the full 90 minutes, but it will try to improve on that and make a deep run in the MWC Tournament this week.

“Our team still has a lot of fight left in them and we are looking forward to playing in the tournament,” senior midfielder Jillian Riker said.” I feel our team has a lot of potential to do very well in Las Vegas. As long as we work hard and come to play, we have a chance of winning it.”

At a glance
When: Noon, today
Where: Peter Johann Memorial Stadium, Las Vegas
Why to watch: The Aztecs will have vengeance on their minds in a rematch of last Friday’s game against TCU.

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