Nov. 1, 2016 #2-SAN JOSé STATE OPENS TOURNAMENT PLAY THURSDAYSan José State will defend it's MW Tournament championship on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at the SDSU Sports Deck. The semifinal match will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network free of charge. The Spartans enter in as the #2-seed as they did a year ago when they hoisted the trophy.SPARTANS FACE WINNER OF #6-BOISE STATE vs. #3-SAN DIEGO STATEBoise State and San Diego State will square off against each other Tuesday night in the quarterfinal of the Mountain West Tournament. San José State awaits the winner of that match for the 7:00 p.m. semifinal on Thursday night. The Spartans played to a 0-0 draw on the road in their meeting with the Broncos, while they defeated the Aztecs 4-0 at home.WATCH THE MW TOURNAMENT LIVE FOR FREEEvery match of the Mountain West Tournament will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network. The broadcasts are free of charge and can be accessed in a number of ways including the SJSU women's soccer schedule page, TheMW.com or by following @MW_OlySports or @SJSUSoccer on Twitter.SIX SPARTANS EARN ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST AWARDSSan José State tied a program record when six players received all-conference honors. Dorthe Hoppius made the All-MW First Team for the second year in a row as a forward. Defenders Kristen Amarikwa and Myia Wilkes, and midfielders Maricruz Chapa and Alexis Venegas were all second-team honorees. Yaritza Arista was an All-Newcomer Team choice alongside Amarikwa. Six honorees ties the program record from a year ago.SPARTANS FINISH WITH TOP OFFENSE IN LEAGUE PLAYThe San José State offense produced three goals throughout the first seven games, and finished nonconference averaging one goal per game. The team then averaged 2.36 goals per game during MW play. SJSU ended the conference season with the league's best total and per-game offense in points, goals and assists. A 5-1 result in the nonconference finale against Portland State is what jumpstarted the Spartans' offense.HOPPIUS ENDS THE YEAR AS POINTS AND GOALS LEADERDorthe Hoppius took over as the team's goals and points leader in the final match of the season. Alexis Venegas led the way for nearly the entire season as a midfielder.HELPERS ALL AROUNDSeven different Spartans registered multiple assists during the regular season. Led by Darriell Franklin with four. Franklin led the team in goals last season as a freshman and has become a force in both scoring and passing in her sophomore campaign, adding three goals.IMPRESSIVE WIN STREAK SNAPPEDThe 3-2 loss at Fresno State in the regular season finale ended a four-game winning streak for the Spartans. A common thread in the four wins was at least one point from Darriell Franklin. She tallied two goals and two assists during that stretch.CALERO STEPS INSJSU lost starting goal keeper Paige Simoneau to injury in the second match of conference play. Freshman Ana Calero took her place for the remainder of the season and finished the year with a 7-3-1 record and a 1.19 goals against average.DEFENSE KEEPS TOP SPOT THROUGH ALL 2016 MATCHESSan José State finished with the league's best overall goals against average of 0.89. The 18 goals allowed during the regular season are the least in the conference. The Spartans shut out five of their first seven opponents of the season. Three of those results ended in scoreless ties.THE LINE OF DEFENSEA big part of the success on defense during the year was a stout backline headed by some savvy veterans and a star freshman. Claire Berkley and Hayden Kelley, battled injury throughout the year but were two backs that played a huge roll in the outstanding start to the year on defense. As the year went on outside back Myia Wilkes went up against the competitions top attackers. Freshman Kristen Amarikwa started every match of the year as a defender and instantly came into the lineup playing like a veteran.A VERSATILE FRESHMANAmarikwa was not only one of SJSU's best defenders, but she was one of the best all around players. She proved to be excellent on set pieces, scoring three goals during the year. She also doled out an assist to give her seven points from the defender position. Amarikwa has strong soccer bloodlines as her brother Quincy is in his eighth year of Major League Soccer service, currently a member of the San Jose Quakes.
