Sports

Oct. 20 - Oct. 29, 2021 EDITOR: Jason Freund • sports@thedailyaztec.com

Sports The Daily Aztec 5

No. 24 Aztecs get sweet revenge on San Jose State in double overtime

By Austin Tarke STAFF WRITER

It took an ‘all hands on deck’ effort as the coaching, defense and special teams were the key ingredients for San Diego State football (6-0, 2-0 Mountain West Conference) to outlast the San Jose State Spartans (3-4, 1-2 MWC) in double overtime 19-13.

After a spectacular interception in the second overtime by senior safety Trenton Thompson, senior quarterback Lucas Johnson threw the game-winning touchdown pass to junior receiver Jesse Matthews as the No. 24 ranked Aztecs improved to 6-0 for just the second time in the last 40 years.

The game featured little excitement as no touchdowns were scored in four quarters of regulation. The Spartan crowd in CEFCU Stadium was electric as it was their homecoming night, which saw a lively crowd. Spartan alumni Krazy George was in attendance who invented “the wave” celebration to provide a spark for the Spartans.

Senior quarterback Jordan Brookshire started the game and struggled, ending up with a passer rating of 18.1. After three quarters of throwing his hands up in the air in frustration and with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, SDSU head coach Brady Hoke made the change to put Johnson in at quarterback, who provided the team with its own spark plug.

“We thought we were a little stagnant and we needed to do something different,” Hoke said.

Johnson was dynamic in overtime as he showed off his legs running for a crucial first down and followed it with the first touchdown of the game — a 14-yard pass to Matthews.

After the Spartans went scoreless on the first possession of double overtime, the

Photo courtesy of SDSU Athletics

SDSU’s defense was relentless against San jose State, not allowing a touchdown until overtime in the Aztecs 19-13 victory on Friday night.

Aztecs needed only a field goal to win the game. Instead of playing conservatively, Johnson — on his third pass of the game — threw a gorgeous second touchdown pass to Matthews to walk off the game.

“I looked out there and I saw that Jesse was one-on-one again, so I checked it, and I was either going to get yelled at or it was going to win the game,” Johnson said.

“Gutsy,” the coaches said when Johnson returned to the sideline.

The game revolved around both defenses. The Aztecs came into the game ranked in the top 10 in FBS rankings in most defensive statistics and the Spartans have a defensive front that Hoke said he was intimidated by.

Hoke also said that these are the ugly

games SDSU has to win the conference. “The game was physical, it wasn’t pretty,”

Hoke said.

After the Aztecs gave up their first touchdown of the game and their first rushing touchdown of the season in the first overtime, they were sent right back out in double overtime to make up for their mistake. The Aztec defense bounced back in a huge way as Thompson had a leaping one-handed interception.

“We knew we just had to get them off the field and win,” Thompson said. “We call it ‘gotta-have it situations.’ He threw it up, and I just made a play.”

Versatile junior kicker/punter Matt Araiza excelled once again, kicking a career long 53-yard field goal to score the Aztecs

first points of the game. Araiza said he ran to coach Hoke after the kick and thanked him for trusting him.

“There’s a gut you have over the course of a game,” Hoke said, referring to the decision to kick the long field goal.

In addition to his two field goals, Araiza had seven punts over the course of the game, including a spectacular 86-yard bomb that flew over the Spartan punt returner’s head and bounced all the way to the San Jose State three-yard line.

Last season, SJSU handed the Scarlet and Black its first loss of the season in heartbreaking fashion, and went on to become MWC champions in 2020. Spoiling the Spartains homecoming in 2021 felt right for the Aztecs, and the locker room celebrated in a crazy fashion.

“Coach Hoke tried to talk a couple times and we were all yelling,” Araiza said. “Part of it is coming to somebody else’s house and beating them in a close game.”

The Aztecs record their sixth win of the year which makes them bowl eligible. However, the team is far from satisfied as they have their eyes on bigger achievements.

“Our main goal is to win the conference championship,” Araiza said. “We don’t set our sights on a bowl game. We set our sights on the championship, the ring, and the trophy and all that.”

The Aztecs now have Air Force (6-1, 3-1 MWC) on deck who feature a unique triple option.

Hoke said he was jokingly upset as he wanted a few more moments to cherish the win instead of thinking about the difficulties of preparing for the Falcons offense.

“They are a physical football team,” Hoke said.“The triple option, whether it’s true triple or not, they know what they’re doing.”

Men’s soccer scores last second goal to defeat Torerros

By Adam Correa STAFF WRITER

The San Diego State Aztecs (7-3-2, 2-3- 0 Pac-12) defeated the University of San Diego Toreros (1-11-0, 0-2-0 West Coast Conference) 2-1 as time expired on Friday night. The Aztecs end their three-game losing streak and pick up their first road win of the 2021 season.

The Aztecs got off to a quick start in the sixth minute with some nifty passing by sophomore midfielder Iñigo Villaldea and freshman forward Alex Hjaelmof to set up fellow sophomore midfielder Andre Ochoa for the first goal of the game and his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

According to head coach Ryan Hopkins, whenever the team scores first it is a confidence booster to keep doing well throughout the game.

“First goal we score is a pattern,” Hopkins said. The Toreros only allowed one shot on goal in the first half and was keeping pace with the Aztecs. USD kept the pressure on in the first half and had two shots on goal that were stopped by sophomore goalkeeper Jacob Castro.

USD took more quality shots on net in the first 45 minutes of play from 10 to 15 yards out. The Aztecs had many opportunities to take shots from that distance but didn’t. Hopkins said he would rather his

Photo courtesy of SDSU Athletics Friday night’s game gave SDSU soccer a lot to celebrate as they took down cross-town rival USD 2-1.

players take quality shots from a shorter distance than from 30 yards out and not be efficient.

“It was how central can we get on our shots,” Hopkins said.

In the 66th minute, the Toreros came close to scoring with a quality shot from sophomore midfielder Rhys Gourdie that was stopped by Castro’s diving block. The ball then deflected to freshman midfielder Luke Pardoe who shot on goal but was stopped by the foot of an Aztec defender.

In the 68th minute, Castro came to the end of the box to make an aggressive catch save but was fouled hard by Pardoe and he

ended up going down. Hopkins called the foul a “cheap shot.” Sophomore defender Elias Katsaros didn’t like the foul and got into a confrontation with Pardoe. Katsaros and Pardoe were given yellow cards after the incident. Castro got up and continued in goal.

USD kept up their aggressive play and finally executed in the 88th minute when Tunbridge put a shot on goal from the right side of the net that deflected off of an Aztec defender and ended up off the crossbar then tapped in by sophomore midfielder Ross Johnstone, tying up the score 1-1 with two minutes left and the possibility of going

into overtime.

The Aztecs were eager to end the game before regulation and got their chance when an Aztec player was fouled by Gourdie to create a free kick opportunity from 15 yards out. The time showed 89:53 and Villaldea would take the free kick for the Aztecs that was sent into the box, headed by freshman defender Rik Regeling — making his first career start — and tapped in by junior midfielder Blake Bowen. With just five seconds left in the game, the Torero players fell to the ground with the emotions of frustration pouring out of them.

“It feels good to get another [game-winner],” Bowen said in a post-game press conference.

Hopkins was impressed with Castro’s goalkeeping. He made four saves on five shots on goal in the game and now has a save percentage of 0.880.

“That is why he is the best goalkeeper in the country,” Hopkins said.

The Aztecs go back into Pac-12 conference play Thursday against the Stanford Cardinals (4-5-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) who are looking for revenge after losing in double overtime 1-0 on Sept. 19.

“Two wins will get us to the NCAA tournament,” Hopkins said.

The Aztecs — who are 2-3-0 in their conference — are looking to move up the ladder with a win at Stanford.

Oct. 20 - Oct. 29, 2021

6 The Daily Aztec

Sports

EDITOR: Jason Freund • sports@thedailyaztec.com

Aztec Racing plans to make it to the pinnacle with their student-built car

By Xiomara Villarreal-Gerardo STAFF WRITER

Women’s soccer loses heartbreaker in Fresno

By Davis Ramage STAFF WRITER

The San Diego State Aztecs (3-6-0, 4-3- 0 Mountain West Conference) fell to the Fresno State Bulldogs (7-4-3, 5-1-1 MWC) 1-0 in double overtime on a second-chance goal by Fresno State’s freshman forward Kaelyn Miller.

The Aztecs had three players with three shots on goal each, including freshman phenoms Denise Castro and Trinity Coker, along with senior Ana Toohey. All of Castro’s shots were on target but to no avail.

The Aztecs’ most promising chance came from Castro in the 22nd minute off a beautiful ball from senior defender Lauren Dicus that found its way behind the defense. The ensuing shot from Castro was handled by Bulldog goalkeeper Ella Wilson.

Fresno State retaliated 37 minutes later with a near-post screamer from Jordan

San Diego State’s Aztec Racing team is preparing for the annual 2022 Formula SAE competition that will be held at the Michigan International Speedway from June 15 to June 18, 2022. The team is working on laying out their master plan for the year and hopes to build an impressive race car that will produce a top-notch performance at the competition.

The Aztec Racing team is a student organization that comes together to build a Formula One style auto-crossing race car from the ground up. They compete in an international engineering design competition called Formula SAE that is organized through the Society of Automotive Engineers International.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team was unable to compete at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for the Formula SAE competition. Their last race was the 2019 Formula SAE competition in Lincoln, Nebraska where Aztec Racing took home 28th place internationally out of 76 teams.

Andrew da Cunha, junior mechanical engineer major and Chief Engineer of Aztec Racing, said they will be building an entirely new car using their previous design from 2019.

“We will be testing the car to its limits while implementing design changes along the way in order to improve the car’s performance,” da Cunha said. “This year I hope to engineer a fantastic car and create a top-notch performance for the competition in June.”

President of Aztec Racing and senior mechanical engineer major Vanessa Ruiz said she has been a core member of Aztec Racing since 2018. She became business executive in 2019, was voted to become president in 2020, and had the opportunity to serve a second term as President for the 2021 season.

Apart from building the race car, Aztec Racing also has a business team that manages

the team’s image, sponsorships, marketing, fundraising and finances as well as presenting at the Formula SAE competition.

Ruiz said it is crucial for the business team to be in tune with the engineering team so that together they can understand what is needed to successfully showcase the team.

“Now, with all of that, it prepares us for the SAE international collegiate competition

that Aztec Racing competes in,” Ruiz said. “The business team’s role for the Formula SAE competition steers towards the static events, which are the coat presentation and the business presentation.”

Senior physics major and Aztec Racing member Eric Contreras said the race car is split into different sub-systems. Each group takes responsibility for a different portion of the vehicle like the chassis, suspension, and aerodynamics. Contreras said the build

process usually begins during the middle of the fall semester and ends in the beginning or middle of the spring semester.

“This allows us to have a few months to test and collect data to determine if the vehicle performs as our designs intended,” said Contreras. “We aim to test the vehicle at least every two to three weeks leading up to the competition.”

Contreras said the race car’s chassis has been fully welded and the suspension pickup points are being welded onto it. He said the engineering team’s current progress of the race car is going well and he is confident that the car will be completed on schedule.

Austin Hoang, a 2020 SDSU computer engineering graduate and former Chief Engineer of Aztec Racing said he loved being a part of the team when he was a student at SDSU because of the great support they all gave each other.

“Everybody on the team was motivated to do well, and I believe some of them were motivated to have their teammates do even better than themselves,” Hoang said. “I think Aztec Racing ultimately assisted me in learning how to operate in a team dynamic, more so than any other classroom group project setting.”

This year, Hoang said he hopes to see the team use the engineering process he left behind and make the necessary improvements to achieve and conclude what he set out to do in the 2019-2020 year.

“From what I hear, they are well on their way to achieving that and more,” he said. “I’m so glad to see them shooting beyond the stars and I’m excited to see them succeed.”

Da Cunha said anyone can join the Aztec Racing team regardless of previous experience or major.

“As long as they have an interest in what we are doing and are ready to get to work, anyone is more than welcome to become part of our team,” da Cunha said. “People can find a link on our Instagram (@sdsufsae) to a Google form to sign up for our email listings as well as a link to join our slack channel where our team holds our discussions.”

Thamchaiwat journeys to women’s championship

By Morgan Prickett STAFF WRITER

Photo courtesy of Aztec RacingAztec Racing driver Bryan Chaiyasane coming back from endurance at the 2019 Formula SAE race competition.

Brown, but a diving stop by sophomore goalkeeper Cameron Illingworth denied the Bulldogs attempt at a goal.

Ninety minutes proved not to be enough to settle the scoreless battle. In the first OT period, each side would produce one shot. The Aztecs’ shot was on target, but could not get past Wilson.

The second OT period would prove to be the Aztecs’ demise. Illingworth was in between the sticks for the Aztecs and she stopped the initial attempt by Miller, but couldn’t get a glove on Miller’s second try as it ended up in the back of the Aztec net in the 108 minute. Both teams had 15 shots on goal, but the last one for the Bulldogs proved to be the dagger as it sent the Aztecs home packing.

The Aztecs hope to bounce back from this stunning loss in an away MWC battle against San Jose State on Sunday, Oct 17 at 12 p.m.

On Oct. 6, Aztec senior Bunyawi Thamchaiwat played her third match as an Aztec at the ITA Women’s All-American Championship at the LTP Tennis Club in Charleston, S.C.

After a nearly seven-hour rain delay, Thamchaiwat — the fifth-seeded player in the tournament and ninth-ranked nationally — took to the court to battle against Wake Forest junior Carolyn Campana — ranked 21 nationally — in the round of 32.

Despite winning nearly half of the match’s points (43 of the possible 97), Thamchaiwat would fall to Campana in back-to-back sets, 6-4, 6-1.

Campana would then make it all the way to the quarter-finals, where she was bested by USC junior Eryn Cayetano 6-2, 6-4.

Thamchaiwat — who spent her previous three years at Oklahoma State — has

placed in the ITA Division I Women Singles top-25 rankings for the past three years straight.

In Thamchaiwat’s freshman year at Oklahoma State, she recorded an overall season record of 15-8 and a nearly perfect Big 12 singles record at 7-1.

Coincidentally — in Thamchaiwat’s freshman year at OSU — she played alongside her now Aztec senior teammate Tamara Arnold and posted a 16-5 record in doubles together.

In Thamchaiwat’s sophomore year at OSU, she placed No. 23 in the ITA women’s singles rankings after recording a perfect 9-0 singles record with a 3-0 record against nationally-ranked players.

In her junior year, Thamchaiwat moved up six spots into No. 17 in the ITA women’s singles rankings after a 12-2 singles record.

Thamchaiwat’s next opportunity to play comes when the Aztecs compete in the ITA Southwest Regional Championships from Oct. 21 to Oct. 25.

Graphics courtesy of Freepik