The Daily Aztec - Vol. 95, Issue 52 by The Daily Aztec

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

SPORTS

The Daily Aztec

MEN’S SOCCER

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Season is ‘just the SDSU looks back with start’ of a new era plenty to be proud of F E L I N A T A M BA KO S S TA F F W R I T E R

The accomplishments of the 2009 San Diego State women’s soccer team will stand in the history books as one of the greatest seasons the program has ever had. A total record of 15-4-5 doesn’t quite say everything about this team that needs to be. “You look back on the year and it’s been phenomenal,” head coach Mike Friesen said. “To make the (NCAA) Tournament has been awesome, and to do it by winning the Mountain West Conference tournament at BYU was incredible. This is what I was hoping for when I took this job two and half years ago.” This group of women, led by Friesen, took the program from an unknown team to a conference title and a national rank of 16. “We have so much depth on the bench,” junior midfielder Michaela DeJesus said. “That’s the biggest difference from this year to last year: Everyone has something they can contribute.” Team harmony maintained SDSU’s success as it headed into the NCA A Tournament with a 15-game unbeaten streak and seven consecutive wins. “We’ve totally grown as a team,” sophomore defender Hayley Marsh said. “You can even tell in warm-ups before the game that the chemistry’s there. We play well together as a team.” Marsh helped the back line to create 10 total shutouts for the season, the most important of which took place in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when the Aztecs took USD out of the competition 1-0. SDSU didn’t receive a shutout until the game that would bring its success to a halt: a 5-0 loss to UCLA in round two. “In my 11 years of doing this,” Friesen said, “I’ve never had a team go through the

regular season without getting shut out. Every single game we were able to bring it.” The Aztecs totaled 36 goals this year, allowing only 26 for opposing teams. SDSU also allowed more opportunities for scoring, chancing more shots than opposing teams 319-287. Leading in shots and goals was redshirt junior midfielder Cat Walker, with 67 shots and 11 goals for the season. Walker was also able to take the title of Most Valuable Player after the red and black victory at the MWC tournament, and ended the season with six game-winning goals. “The one thing I can think of to sum up the season is that hard work has gotten us to where we are,” Walker said. “The seniors have taken this program to where it is. Their hard work over the years, with ups and downs, new coaches and new players, goes up with eventually building a program that’s going to succeed. We have more wins this season (15) than I’ve had in my other years combined, and a lot of that is due to these seniors.” Walker speaks the truth; the Aztecs’ 15 wins are the most the program has seen since 1999, the last time SDSU made the NCAA Tournament. “I’m happy with how we did this year as a team,” freshman forward Niki Fernandes said. “It’s been a while since this team has gotten to where we are now, but I don’t think we’re done.” Despite finishing early in the tournament, the Aztecs stand positive about the future of the program. “This is just the start for us, and direction for next year,” Friesen said. “We will set some new goals and push just as hard. We want to get this program into the top 20, be in the sweet 16 and one day have a chance to win a national championship.”

Bryan Koci / Staff Photographer

Senior defender Nick Cardenas and the San Diego State men’s soccer team finished with a record of 6-6-6 and tied a NCAA record for the most overtime games played in a single college season with 11.

D AN P E R E Z S TA F F W R I T E R

Every single game was played right down to the last minute; if that wasn’t good enough, the San Diego State men’s soccer team then took games into overtime. SDSU (6-6-6) tied a NCAA record for the most overtime games in a single season with 11, and each of those games can summarize this season as a whole: Well-earned. “We never gave up; we wanted everything this season so badly,” redshirt senior tri-captain midfielder Jamel Wallace said. “The endings of the games may not have always been what we wanted or deserved, but we can say we fought every minute of every game.”

MVP The Aztecs’ leader in goals and points for the season was junior forward Raymundo Reza. Reza was integral in many close wins and was the center of the offensive for the majority of the season. If a goal was scored, Reza usually had something to do with it, establishing himself as a focal point for SDSU’s offensive attack. “When we lost Evan (Toft) we lost a huge dimension of our game,” senior tri-captain defender Nick Cardenas said. “Ray just picked it up in Evan’s (Toft) absence; he kept doing what he was doing and added a lot to his game so we didn’t struggle for our offense.”

Game of the Year Coming off a tough loss at home in overtime against ranked conference opponent

BEHIND THE NUMBERS

Stanford, the Aztecs found themselves in a tight battle against another top-ranked opponent in California. SDSU played into overtime and would upset the Golden Bears on a goal in the box from freshman midfielder Morgan Sacco. “This game sparked so much for us; we took this win and turned it into a threegame win streak,” Cardenas said. “This game we really found out who we were and what we could do. We found out we were good and could hang with the top-ranked teams and showed it.”

Newcomer of the Year The aforementioned Sacco had the greatest statistical impact and made all of his minutes count for the Aztecs. Sacco had two goals and a total of seven points, putting him in the top five for points among all SDSU players. “Morgan (Sacco) did more than we expected of him,” redshirt senior tri-captain forward Matt McManus said. “He made every single one of his minutes count and showed so much potential. He’ll just continue to get better over the rest of his career here.”

Quotable “We fought. Every single day we came into work and we fought,” Wallace said. “We built this camaraderie and friendship that inspired us to play every game to the end. Not every outcome was the one we wanted, but the effort and the will is what was unique to this team and this season.”