Sports

10 The Daily Aztec

Sports

Oct. 13 - 19, 2021 EDITOR: Jason Freund • sports@thedailyaztec.com

Aztecs football still undefeated after first Mountain West Conference win

By Jason Freund SPORTS EDITOR

Senior running back Greg Bell wasted zero time reestablishing himself as the top runner at San Diego State.

After missing nearly the entire game against Towson two weeks ago, Bell rushed for 111 yards on 21 attempts while scoring his fifth touchdown of the season as the No. 25-ranked Aztecs (5-0, 1-0 Mountain West Conference) dispatched the New Mexico Lobos (2-4, 0-2 MWC) 31-7 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Bell took advantage of situations presented to him by his offensive line — a trait that didn’t go unnoticed by head coach Brady Hoke.

“He’s got very good vision,” Hoke said of Bell. “He did a very nice job of being able to burst through the hole.”

After suffering a shoulder injury, Bell was initially questionable to return against the Lobos. But — after practicing all week leading up to Saturday — Bell was inserted into the lineup with immediate results.

On his first run of the game, Bell burst through a gaping hole opened by his offensive line for a 40-yard run. Five plays later, the senior back scored on a one-yard rush to put the Scarlet and Black up 7-0.

His 111 yards pushed him over the century mark for the ninth time in just 16 games and the eighth time in 12 matches.

A Matt Araiza 44-yard field goal at the start of the second quarter pushed SDSU’s lead to 10.

Another player returning from injury — senior quarterback Jordon Brookshire — had less success. Brookshire returned to the starting lineup after missing two

Men’s soccer falls to UCLA, now on a three game skid

By Morgan Prickett STAFF WRITER

The San Diego State Aztecs (6-2-2, 2-2- 0 Pac-12) lost their third game in a row to the UCLA Bruins (6-4-0, 2-2-0 Pac-12) at the Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 8 by a score of 1-0.

The Aztecs entered Friday evening’s game off the back of their first two losses of the season against No. 2 Washington and then No. 13 Oregon State.

SDSU failed to score in both games, falling 1-0 to Washington in overtime and 2-0 to Oregon State.

The Bruins also entered this game off the back of two losses, coincidently, against the same teams.

The Bruins suffered a tough 4-3 defeat to OSU after leading 3-1 in the second half and then fell to Washington 2-1 after conceding two goals in the final seven minutes of the match.

Both halves of this match were filled with end to end foot-play. The Bruins were the team making the most noise but the Aztecs still posed a threat to the Bruins defense on the counter attack with quick passes and movement up the field.

Regulation featured 13 fouls and six yellow cards with the majority of both belonging to the Aztecs.

Despite the physicality, the referee let both teams play past debatable fouls as both the Aztecs and Bruins had multiple requests for possible penalty kicks.

After 90 minutes, the game would end

games due to injury and went 11-24 with 130 yards. Many of his throws were either over or underthrown in the first half.

Brookshire struggled at times to set his feet when throwing on the run, leading to many incomplete passes when he scrambled outside the pocket.

“He basically stumbled a little bit,” Hoke said. “So, he never set his feet or his hips and never got that platform like we wanted to.”

Despite being shaky through the air, Brookshire continued to get the job done on the ground, continuing his streak of scoring rushing touchdowns. Brookshire scored in the second quarter on a oneyard scramble while a fake handoff to senior running back Kaegun Williams fooled the Lobos defense and allowed the quarterback to slip into the endzone for

an 11-yard score.

“I feel pretty good running the ball,” Brookshire said, about his running abilities. “As far as, you know, being more comfortable than one or another, I think it’s just two completely different aspects of the game.”

The main reason behind SDSU’s dominance? The defense.

In front of their former head coach and defensive guru Rocky Long, defensive coordinator Kurt Mattix’s defense pitched a shutout against New Mexico and allowed just 193 total yards of offense.

The Scarlet and Black made senior quarterback Terry Wilson Jr’s. night a living nightmare with constant blitz packages and backfield pressure. In total, SDSU defenders tallied four sacks and ten tackles for loss.

Courtesy of SDSU Athletics

Senior linebacker and captain Caden McDonald got his teammates fired up in pregame. The Aztecs defense would go on to shut out New Mexico’s offense, and hold the Lobos to seven total points.

scoreless with the Bruins taking 12 shots at sophomore goalkeeper Jacob Castro, while the Aztecs trailed with just six shots of their own.

Overtime would be needed to decide an outcome.

In the first six minutes of overtime, the Bruins would have the two best chances of the game.

The first came from a header by Bruins freshman Pietro Grassi off a free kick by sophomore Tommy Silva that was met with a brilliant flying save by Castro. The second shot came in front of the goal by redshirt freshman Jose Contell that was again stopped by a diving save from Castro.

In the seventh minute of overtime, the game-winning goal was scored as Bruins junior Riley Firch played a through ball into the path of redshirt freshman Tucker Lepley, who slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of Castro’s goal.

In spite of the result, this game marked the Aztecs’ 10th game holding their opponents scoreless in the first half out of 11 matches this season, with the only first half goals coming in the 2-0 defeat at OSU.

The Aztec defense has remained consistent throughout the season, forcing six overtimes already — the most since the 2016 season where the Aztecs went to overtime 10 times out of their 19 matches.

With no goals in the last three games, the Aztecs will look to reignite their offense on Friday, Oct. 15 when they play the University of San Diego at Torero Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

Senior defensive lineman Keyshawn Banks summed it as the Aztecs directly affecting Wilson Jr.

“I think it just came down to pressure,” Banks said. “When we get guys in his face, that doesn’t give him as much time to go through his reads and his progressions like he wants to so there was pressure in disguise and coverages as well.”

New Mexico’s offensive game plan revolved around hitting their slot receivers, which meant going up against senior safety Trenton Thompson. The plan — for the most part — failed. When Wilson Jr. wasn’t being hounded by an Aztec defender or lying flat on the turf, Thompson was limiting the Lobos’ receivers to short gains or knocking the ball to the ground.

Thompson picked off a wobbled pass at the end of the second quarter to keep New Mexico off the scoreboard and had a second interception called back for pass interference.

“I think he has gained more and more confidence in man coverage,” Hoke said. “I think coach Mattix has put him in good positions either bringing him in, letting him blitz off the edge or putting him in zone combinations or man’s.”

Bell was pulled in the third quarter after losing a fumble that would be picked up by New Mexico and returned for a touchdown.

By the time SDSU scored their fourth rushing touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, New Mexico had been both physically and mentally checked out of the game.

Bell and the Aztecs will look to continue rolling next week as they travel to San Jose to take on the San Jose State Spartans (3-3, 1-1 MWC).

Women’s soccer defeats UNLV, loses to Nevada

By Taylor Harris and Tania Gallardo Avalos CONTRIBUTORS

San Diego State women’s soccer (6-8-0, 4-2-0) was victorious against University of Nevada Las Vegas (9-6-0, 2-4-0) beating the Rebels 1-0 in a tense overtime game on Friday evening.

Senior forward Anna Toohey — assisted by sophomore forward Emma Gaines- Ramos — scored the winning goal of the game in the 92nd minute. Gaines-Ramos ran the ball down the left side of the field and set up a cross for Toohey to sneak the ball into the high right of the net.

The Aztecs played aggressively, committing 21 total fouls. Senior defender Maila Kaleiohi brought the pressure against the Rebels offense and received the only yellow card for the Aztecs in the 28th minute.

Senior midfielder Daniela Filipovic set up a few great crosses into the box for her teammates, however, no one could send the ball into the net.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Madueno blocked shot after shot, being one of the main reasons the Rebels failed to get any goals in the net.

Both teams brought the pressure leading to a tense golden goal overtime. The Aztecs were hungry for a win as they were able to shut down the Rebels just minutes after the overtime period started. Versus Nevada Wolfpack Losing their undefeated streak to

Nevada since 2002, the Aztecs fell to The University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Packs (3-8-2, 2-2-2 MWC), 3-2 on Sunday Oct. 10.

The Aztecs got things started when freshman forward Denise Castro — assisted by senior forward Anna Toohey — gave the Scarlet and Black the early lead with the first goal in the 20th minute. It was Castro’s seventh goal this season.

Freshman defender Trinity Coker attempted a shot but it was stopped by Nevada’s senior goalkeeper Kendal Stovall. Stovall failed to constrain the ball, which allowed for Castro to redirect and fire the second goal in the 28th minute — her eighth goal this season and second of the game

Nevada never quit in the second half. Freshman forward Emily Rich assisted junior midfielder Luz Arreaga’s first goal of the season in the 51st minute and Freshman Penny Murphy evened the score in the 78th minute with Nevada’s first penalty kick of the season — Murphy’s first goal of her athletic college career.

With 12 minutes left on the clock, freshman forward Kelly Rich rushed in the box with an attempt to score which failed; however, it was redirected by sophomore forward Olivia Fothergill in the 89th minute scoring the winning goal for the Wolf Pack.

The Aztecs outshot the Wolf Pack 12- 11 and sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Madueno had one save, yet Nevada took the win with a response of three goals.

Graphics courtesy of Freepik

Oct. 13 - 19, 2021 EDITOR: Jason Freund • sports@thedailyaztec.com

Sports

The Daily Aztec / 11

Aztec Baseball in full swing for 2022

By Jenna Meyer SENIOR STAFF WRITER

To kick off the 2022 season, San Diego State Baseball will hit the road to play in the MLB4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona from Feb. 18 to Feb. 20. They will be taking on opponents such as the University of California Berkeley (29-26 in 2021), the University of Houston (19-34 in 2021), and Texas Christian University (41-19 in 2021).

The MLB4 tournament hosts toptier baseball programs and will provide exposure to a younger Aztec team which lost seven players to the MLB draft and free agency. The tournament will provide this year’s roster with the opportunity to go up against strong contenders from the Pac-12, AAC, and Big-12 conferences early in the season.

The Aztecs have had previous success in preseason tournaments, going 2-1 in 2020’s preseason showcase, defeating Virginia Tech and Coastal Carolina, while their lone loss came against UNC Greensboro.

The team will then travel to UC Irvine for the first of a non-conference homeand-home series on Feb. 22 and March 1 before returning home to host the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament against three teams that have yet to be announced. This will be held at Tony Gwynn Stadium from Feb. 25 to Feb. 27.

New Season, New Faces: Non- Conference Opponents

Unlike last year’s shortened season due to COVID-19 protocols, the Scarlet and Black will have plenty of opportunities to face non-conference opponents and see new competition.

The Aztecs’ non-conference opponents

Photo by Andrew Finley

Tony Gwynn Stadium is the home of SDSU baseball, and will play host to the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament for the 2022 season.

fill in many single weekday competitions occurring on Monday and Tuesday evenings, with the one exception being two weekend series and two home-andhome series throughout the season.

The weekend series brings two Arizona schools to San Diego: Arizona State (March 4 to March 6) and Grand Canyon University (April 22 to April 24).

The home-and-home series includes local competition and rivals UC San Diego (at UCSD on March 22 and at home on March 29 and May 3) and USD (at USD on April 12 and at home on April 18).

The single weekday competition slate will include Hawaii (Feb. 28), Iowa (March 15), Long Beach State (April 26) and CSU Northridge (May 4).

Return of the rivalries: Mountain West Conference Opponents

At the close of the 2021 season, the Aztecs finished second behind Nevada — just missing a bid to the playoffs. Nevada took home the Mountain West Conference Championship in 2021 and will have a similar roster makeup to last season. The Scarlet and Black will have a chance at redemption against the Wolf Pack in Reno April 1 to April 3, and at home May 13 to May 15.

Similar to Nevada, the Scarlet and Black took the series against UNLV at home but faced trouble with UNLV after being swept in the Aztecs last series of 2021. They will have the opportunity to try again at home from March 11 to March 13 and to cap off

the 2022 season against the Rebels in Las Vegas on May 20 to May 22.

San Jose State sat at the bottom of the conference last year, and the Aztecs often found success against them, going 5-1 against them in 2021. They will see the Spartans again in San Jose on March 18 to March 20 and then host them at home the weekend of April 8 to April 10.

Fresno State provided similar competition to SJSU with the Aztecs going 4-2 against them in 2021. The team will host the Bulldogs at home from March 25 to March 27 and be at Fresno State in an away series from April 29 to May 1.

The Aztecs also have two series against conference opponents that they will only see once, including a trip to New Mexico on April 14 to April 16 to take on the Lobos and then later returning home to take on Air Force May 6 to May 8.

Going for the ship: Mountain West Conference Tournament Host

After the cancelation of both the 2020 and 2021 Mountain West tournament that was to be hosted by the most recent champions (SDSU) due to COVID-19, the site of the tournament has been announced to be held at Tony Gwynn Stadium May 26 to May 29.

The tournament hosts six teams in a double-elimination style tournament with the winner receiving the conference title as well as an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

SDSU currently holds the most Mountain West Conference Championships with six. The road to seven starts now.

To stay updated throughout the Aztec’s Baseball season and journey to the Mountain West conference tournament, make sure you are following @ AztecsGotGame and host @jennaameyer on Twitter.

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