Sept. 11, 2013
THIS WEEK:
UC Santa Barbara San José, Calif.
Sept. 15 UC Santa Barbara 1:00 p.m.
(All times in PDT)
SAN JOSÉ STATE HOSTS FIRST MATCH OF 2013: The San José State University women's soccer team (0-6-0) hosts its first match of the season when it welcomes UC Santa Barbara to Spartan Stadium on Sunday, September 15 for a 1:00 p.m. match.
The Spartans dropped both of its road matches last weekend after failing to put any goals in the back of the net. Against Cal Poly on Friday, September 6, the Spartans took a season-high 15 shots but a hat trick by Elise Krieghoff, the nation's leading scorer, resulted in a 3-0 loss to the Mustangs. San José State outshot Sacramento State on Sunday, September 8, by a four-shot margin but lost to the Hornets, 1-0.
LIVE STATS: Live stats for this weekend's match will be available on SJSUSpartans.com. Click on the calendar button in the center of the homepage, then access live stats for each match by either clicking on the Match Tracker icon, or the Live Stats link.
LIVE STREAM: Live video will be available for the UC Santa Barbara match free-of-charge on SJSUSpartans.com. Click on the calendar button in the center of the homepage, then access the live stream by clicking the Live Stream link.
UC SANTA BARBARA: The Gauchos (3-2-1) travel to San Jose on the heels of consecutive 1-0 victories over Pacific and Cincinnati on Sept. 6 and 8, respectively. Beth Ritter earned the shutout in both matches and was assisted by the team's 14 matches in each win. Allie Ariniello leads the Gauchos with three goals and Madison Beckley has a team-leading 14 shots, nine of which were on goal. In his 15th season as head coach is Paul Stumpf.
SAN JOSÉ STATE HEAD COACH: Head Coach Jeff Leightman is at the Spartans' helm for his sixth season, entering 2013 with a 40-47-11 record. The 2009 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Coach of the Year, he is the only coach to lead his team to back-to-back regular season conference titles. In each of his first four years, he led the Spartans to a WAC Tournament bid.
SPARTANS PICKED TO FINISH NINTH: The 2013 San José State University women's soccer team was picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West by a panel of the conference's 11 head coaches.
The Spartans return seven starters and 13 letterwinners to its 2012 squad that finished 6-11-1. In its inaugural Mountain West season, San José State plays a program-high 10 conference matches and faces two teams ranked in the NSCAA/Continental Tire preseason list (San Diego State, No. 11; California, No. 20).
2013 SQUAD FEATURES QUALITY RETURNERS AND EXCITING NEWCOMERS: The 2012 team-leading scorer and second team All-WAC and Preseason CollegeSportsMadness.com honoree Megan Molina joins the team for her senior season, while centerback Rachel Docherty, who played the second-most minutes of all returners, anchors the backline. Seven newcomers join the squad, including 2012 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year Kareli Rodriguez and goalkeeper Sarah Peplinski, the 2013 Wisconsin Valley Conference Player of the Year. In addition, Niki Brooks, who has six years of coaching at the collegiate level, joins the team as an assistant coach.
NOTES FROM THE PITCH:
Ashley Boitz has played in five matches for the Spartans this season.
Rachel Docherty has started four of five matches played for the Spartans this season.
Alex Donaldson has played in six of the Spartans' matches this season.
Lupita Estrada has started all of the Spartans' matches this season and leads the team in goals (2), points (4), shots (6) and shots on goal (5). She was named to the University of San Diego Tournament All-Tournament Team after scoring both of the team's goals.
Sarah Fraser has played in all of the Spartans' matches this season with one start. She has taken one shot.
Alex Jimenez has played in all of the Spartans' matches and has three starts this season. She has taken one shot.
Cheryl Kute has started all of the Spartans' 2013 matches this season and has taken three shots. She was named to the University of San Diego Tournament All-Tournament Team.
McColl Matthews has played in all of the team's matches this season with four starts. She is tied for the Spartans' lead in assists (1). She has taken one shot, which was between the pipes.
Carley McBeath has started all of the Spartans' matches this season. She has one assist and has taken six shots.
Megan Molina has starts in all of the Spartans' matches this season. She has taken six shots, two of which were between the pipes.
Megan Rauschnot has started all of the team's matches, taking one shot this season.
Stephanie Rebagliati has played in all of the Spartans' matches this season, making two starts.
Kareli Rodriguez is tied for the team's lead in assists with one after starting all of the team's matches this season. She has taken five shots.
Becca Spangler has three starts for the Spartans this season, making appearances in all six matches. She has taken one shot.
Alexis Venegas has started all of the Spartans' matches this season. She scored her first collegiate goal against San Francisco and has taken five shots, four of which were between the pipes.
NOTES FROM BETWEEN THE PIPES:
Sarah Peplinski has started five of the Spartans' six matches this season. In 428:34 minutes, she has a 0-5 record with a 2.94 goals against average and a .611 save percentage.
Zoe Makrigiannis has one start and an additional appearance for 121:26 minutes this season for the Spartans. She has a 1.48 goals against average with a .333 save percentage alongside a 0-1 record.
SPARTANS' NEXT MATCH: San José State hosts Pacific on Friday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m. then travels to CSU Bakersfield on Sunday, September 22 at 5:00 p.m.