Oct. 6, 2017
San Diego, Calif. --- Two seasons ago Spartans keeper Paige Simoneau was the hero when she came off the bench and saved multiple penalty kick tries by San Diego State in route to securing the Mountain West Tournament title.
Friday night on the same surface against the same Aztecs, Simoneau gave Spartan fans a flashback to that moment when she stopped another penalty kick to preserve a shutout in the San Jose State (6-5-1, 3-1-1 MW) women's soccer team's 0-0 tie at San Diego State (6-6-1, 3-1-1 MW).
"Paige was just phenomenal," said Spartans' head coach Lauren Hanson. "I'm really proud of her and really just proud of the entire team for a fantastic shutout against a tough team on the road."
Simoneau finished the night with a season-high eight saves, none more important than the two she made in the 53rd minute on a San Diego State penalty kick attempt.
As a result of a foul in the box, Mia Root lined up the penalty kick for the Aztecs attempting to break a scoreless tie, but her shot low and to the right was denied by Simoneau. Just as she got back on her feet Simoneau stopped another shot by SDSU's Darcy Weiser who fired the shot after racing in for the rebound of the initial PK.
Ironically, the drama happened just one minute of game time after San Diego State keeper Gabby English stopped a PK of her own on the other end. Yaritza Arista took the shot for the Spartans, but the shot low and to the left was blocked by English.
San Diego State put eight of 13 shots on goal while San Jose State put three of eight on frame. SJSU didn't get a single shot off throughout the two overtime periods while the Aztecs took five. Dorthe Hoppius put two of four shots on goal and Arista's penalty kick was the other one on target.
"This really was a team effort," Hanson said. "We started five freshmen who gained a lot of experience, and then everyone who came in off the bench contributed."