April 12, 2006
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztecs to Play Host to UC Santa Barbara on Senior Day
San Diego State (18-9; 4-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) returns home to The Salvation Army Kroc Center to play host to UC Santa Barbara (13-14; 3-7 MPSF) on Senior Day, Saturday, April 15, at 10 a.m. PDT. The Aztecs will try to snap a four-match losing skid on a day in which they will honor its five seniors in Cia Cobb, Savanah Kelley, Rachel Serna, Susan Stivers and Cassie Zebisch.
SDSU will be looking to regroup after suffering a 7-2 defeat at the hands of No. 2 Stanford at Palo Alto, Calif., and a hearbreaking, overtime loss at eighth-ranked San Jose State this past weekend.
After the Aztecs' final home match of the season, SDSU will travel to UC San Diego where it will try to defend its Harper Cup title for a fifth consecutive season. The annual contest is set for Thursday, April 20, at 6 p.m.
A Look at UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Barbara recently snapped its five-match losing streak with its 7-6 win over CS Northridge on April 8. The Gauchos sustained a fierce rally from the Matadors and received four goals from Jen D'Anna, two from Alaina Whitaker and a solo goal from Annie Kiening to pocket the victory. UCSB is led by D'Anna, who leads the team in scoring with 42 goals (14th in the MPSF with 1.75 gpg) and Whitaker, who is in a close second with 40 (17th in MPSF with 1.63 gpg). In net for the Gauchos is Rosey Redaelli who has seen action in 11 games and has 61 saves on the season.
Senior Day
The UC Santa Barbara match will mark the final home contest for Cia Cobb, Savanah Kelley, Rachel Serna, Susan Stivers and Cassie Zebisch. Below is a quick look at their Aztec careers.
Cia Cobb (Yorba Linda, Calif./Long Beach CC) is a two-year varsity team member out of Yorba Linda, Calif., who played at Long Beach City College before coming to SDSU. During her time on Montezuma Mesa, which spans 48 games, Cobb has accumulated nine goals, 18 assists and 23 steals.
Savanah Kelley (Modesto, Calif./Johansen HS), a three-year letterwinner and two-time co-captain, ranks fifth in school history with 166 steals. She has played in 120 out of a possible 129 games, making 87 starts. From her sophomore to senior campaigns, she has started 86 of the 87 games in which she has played. In addition to her 166 steals, Kelley has 52 goals and 27 assists to her credit.
Rachel Serna (Coronado, Calif./Coronado HS) is one of SDSU's all-time leading goal scorers with 124 in three-plus seasons. That figure ranks seventh in school history. In 2005, Serna had one of the greatest scoring seasons in Aztec history posting 65 goals, the eighth-best mark in program history. Her career numbers to date: 121 games, 124 goals, 39 assists, 75 steals.
Susan Stivers (El Cajon, Calif./El Cajon Valley HS), an invaluable piece to the team's success the last four seasons, has played in 82 games during her time at San Diego State, tallying a career-best 15 goals in 2005. For her career, she has 34 goals, 32 assists and 20 steals.
Cassie Zebisch (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Long Beach CC), the team's co-captain, has played in 55 games in almost two full seasons. Last season she scored six goals and has eclipsed that total this year with nine. For her career, she has 15 goals, 10 assists and 11 steals.
Overtime Unkind for Aztecs
Despite having an all-time record of 18-9 in overtime matches, the Aztecs have recently had trouble in the extra session the past two seasons. Going back to 2005, SDSU is 1-3 in contests that have required bonus water polo. The overtime match at San Jose State (April 9) was the first for the Aztecs in more than year with the last coming on March 6, 2005, at California. That day, both teams were tied at 9-9 after the first two overtime frames sending the game into sudden death where Molly Hayes scored the game-winner with 19 seconds left.
Werner Takes Six Three Times
Stacy Werner recorded six steals at San Jose State for the third time this season giving her a team-leading 66 for the year. She becomes the first Aztec to record at least six steals in a game three different times in one season. The six-steal total is the third-highest mark in school history behind Megan Dunbar's nine (1999 and 2000) and Werner (2004) and Casey Finnegan's seven (2003). Joining Werner with six steals is Chelsy Smith (2004) and Finnegan (2002).
Career Years in Scoring
Ashley McCullum, Becca Ur and Cassie Zebisch have all established personal-bests in goal scoring this season. McCullum, who scored nine goals at Michigan (2004) and last year at SDSU, has found the back of the net 12 different times this season, while Ur has surpassed her freshman season total of 15 with 22 up to this point. Zebisch, a co-captain, has scored nine times this year after only scoring six goals in her first year at SDSU.
In addition, another three are very close to joining the aforementioned trio. Elana Cervantes has 34 goals after posting a career-best 35 in 2005. The same can be said for Stacy Werner, who scored 36 times in 2005, but has 35 through 27 games this year. The last of the trio is Susan Stivers. The senior from El Cajon, Calif., has 10 goals on the season with her career-high of 15 coming last year.
All-time Freshman Goal Scorers
San Diego State's freshman class has played a giant role in the team's success this season. Three of the squad's seven freshmen have been slowly moving up the Carin Crawford-era freshman goal scoring chart with Ashling Taylor tied for fourth with Whitney Winlow with 24 goals. Jenna Schuster ranks fifth with 22 goals and Anna Gonzales sits in sixth place with 19. The top three spots are occupied by Holly Hartzell (90 goals), Amber Prestegard (58) and Dominique Delgado (33).
Moral Victory
Despite losing to No. 1 Southern California on April 1, the Aztecs achieved a moral victory of sorts as they scored 11 goals against the Women of Troy. Coming into the contest, USC had only allowed 93 goals in 19 games (4.9 gpg). Before SDSU put up an 11 spot on the scoreboard, the most USC had allowed this year was eight goals vs. UCLA at the Stanford Tournament, Feb. 12. The Aztecs were also successful stopping Southern California's leading goal scorer Brittany Hayes as Stacy Werner drew the assignment and held her scoreless for the game.
More Donuts
The Aztecs became the first team in school history to record two shutouts in a season when it defeated Colorado State, 16-0, on March 24. The blanking came less than week after San Diego State defeated 15th-ranked Michigan on March 19, 13-0, and is the fourth shutout in school history. With their performance against the Wolverines, the Aztecs became just the third team in school history to shutout an opponent and the first since the 2002 team blanked Redlands, 5-0.
SDSU's first-ever shutout came against UC Santa Barbara, 15-0, on Feb. 28, 1998, in the UCSB Tournament. In the previous two seasons in which SDSU held an opponent scoreless, the Aztecs posted at least 20 wins with the 1998 squad posting 23 victories and the 2002 team recording 20.
Offensive Firepower
San Diego State has shown the ability to score goals bunches this season having scored at least 10 goals in nine of its last 12 games. For the season, the Aztecs have reached the double-figure plateau 13 times after posting only nine all of last year. During a six-game stretch in March (March 24-26), SDSU averaged 13.8 goals per game (83 total) and only allowed an average of 3.3 goals (20 toal). This came after averaging 12.3 goals per game while allowing an average of 2.7 in three games at the Wolverine Invite. Through 27 games, the Aztecs have netted 258 goals, 40 more goals than last year's 27-game total of 218.
Freshman Contributions
This year's highly-touted freshman class has been counted on to contribute immediately and they have not disappointed. Two Aztecs have played in all 27 games (Anna Gonzales and Jenna Schuster) with Gonzales receiving the starting nod in every game up to this point. Five other freshmen, Erinn Greenwood (26 games) Erin Lester (15), Nicole Louie (15), Jessica Pace (18) and Ashling Taylor (26) have also seen playing time throughout the course of the season. Combined, the class has accounted for 88 of the team's 258 goals (34.1 percent), 69 assists and 78 steals. Taylor is the leading freshman goal scorer with 24, while Schuster and Gonzales are not far behind with 22 and 19, respectively.
Stingy Defense
The Aztecs' defense has been stingy so far through 27 contests as they have allowed an average of 5.6 goals per game. A major reason why SDSU ranks among the nation's elite is the way the Aztecs open and close games. Through 27 games, San Diego State is allowing an average of 1.15 goals in the first period (31 total). The Aztecs' fourth quarter performance is just as impressive allowing just 0.96 goals to close out contests (26 total). Not once in its four games at the LMU Invite did SDSU allow a goal in the first quarter.
The Shots Stop Here
Goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore is enjoying a tremendous season as she has 193 saves in 27 games (7.15 spg) and guided the Aztecs to its first shutout of an opponent since 2002 when SDSU blanked Michigan. She and back-up Heather Fenske also combined to hold Colorado State scoreless on March 24. Kilgore already has seven double-digit save efforts to her credit and has notched 13 or more saves three different times this year, including a season-high 15 against Indiana on March 18.
Serna Scores
Rachel Serna has picked up where she left off from last year's All-America season where she scored the eighth-most goals in a season in school history (65) as she has netted a team-leading 36 goals. The senior from Coronado is seventh in school history with 124 career goals.
Against No. 10 San Jose State in the seventh-place game of the Gaucho Invitational on Feb. 26, Serna scored five goals for the second time in her career in the 9-6 win. Oddly enough, the first time she scored five in game was at the Gaucho Invite one year ago to the day on Feb. 26, 2005, against UCI. In both instances, the Aztecs were victorious.
Dropping Dimes
Elana Cervantes set the school record for assists in a season (56) last year and is well on her way to setting the career school record. Former Aztec Dominique Delgado is the all-time leader with 126 and Cervantes is not far behind as she has recorded 119 in two-plus seasons. The junior from Davis, Calif., surpassed Amber Prestegard (116) for second all time in school history when she tallied two against USC.
Shoplifter
Similar to Rachel Serna and Elana Cervantes, Stacy Werner leads the team in steals after she led the 2005 squad with 53. So far this season, the junior has a personal-best 66 steals for an average of 2.4 per game. Three times this season she has recorded at least six steals in a game, the third-highest total and fifth-best mark in school history. She is second on the team in assists with 26 and second on the team in scoring with 35. She has 133 steals for her career and is seventh all-time in SDSU history.
