Oct. 18, 2015
San Diego, Calif. --- As expected, the top two Mountain West teams in San Jose State and San Diego State came out firing on all cylinders, each producing a goal inside the first five minutes. But it was Leah Pruitt's 56th minute goal that handed San Jose State a 2-1 loss in a battle for first place at the SDSU Sports Deck.
Pruitt, the conference's top-scoring freshman, won a ball inside the top-right corner of the box and fired it high to the back post for an eventual game-winner. The goal handed the Spartans their first loss of the year in a MW match on the road, and kept the Aztecs unbeaten at home this season.
"What a great soccer game," said Spartans' head coach Lauren Hanson. "They are so athletic and just capitalized on their chances. But We had several chances of our own and we did a great job putting the pressure on them."
Neither team wasted anytime to go on the attack at the outset of this highly anticipated match. San Jose State (8-6-2, 6-2-0 MW) struck first in the fourth minute when Dorthe Hoppius took a throw in from Carley McBeath and sent a header over the outstretched arm of Aztecs keeper Melanie Vaughn. Hoppius has now scored in each of the last four matches.
Not even 60 seconds later, SDSU's Jen Rupey connected with Aliyah Utush to even the match at 1-1. The long line-drive pass in from the right side went right to the foot of Utush, who just had to touch it in for the equalizer.
The two teams went into the half split down the middle with six shots a piece. But San Diego State (11-4-0, 7-1-0 MW) outshot the Spartans 8-3 in the second half.
SJSU keeper Zoe Makrigiannis was hurt on the play which Pruitt scored on, forcing Paige Simoneau to come off the bench and finish the match. The Aztecs peppered Simoneau, but never got one by and the freshmen ended with a pair of saves.
The final shot count ended with a 14-9 advantage for San Diego State which put nine on goal against SJSU's five. San Diego State took nine corner kicks while San Jose State attempted three.
"I'm proud of the way we played," Hanson said. "We came into their environment for a Sunday game and played really well. The way we played today proves that we are right up there with the best teams in this conference."
After a four-game road trip, the Spartans return home for three straight matches to close out the 2015 regular season. San Jose State will finish the season 5-1 on the road in conference play during which they outscored their opponents 9-3.
The next match is set for October 23, at 12:00 p.m., against UNLV at Spartan Soccer Field.