SAN DIEGO – San Diego State cruised to a 3-0 victory over Colorado State in its regular-season home finale thanks to, in part, a two-goal performance by Mia Root and a two-assist effort by Aliyah Utush. The win moved the Aztecs to 9-7-2 overall and 6-2-2 in the Mountain West, while the Rams fell to 4-9-5 (2-5-3 MW).

“It was great to clinch a spot in the conference tournament,” head coach Mike Friesen said. “We put ourselves in a position to fight for a (regular-season) championship if we can get some results to go our way. At the very least, we put ourselves in a position to get one of the top two seeds and have a bye in the first round (of the tournament), so that’s going to be important for us this week to be healthy, play well against New Mexico and try to get that result to set ourselves up for success in the conference tournament. It was good to get three goals today and really have another dominant performance. I feel like we’re playing very well right now.”

Root got the Aztecs on the scoreboard in the 19^th minute when the freshman controlled the ball at the top of the box, maneuvered around one defender and sent a low blast into the lower right corner of the net. The goal was her team-best seventh of the season, but the Placerville native would not be done reaching the scoring column.

Later in the 34^th minute, Utush took a ball on the end line and fed Root, who was coming toward her and the freshman slotted her shot from four yards out past two CSU defenders and Rams goalkeeper Hunter Peifer to put SDSU ahead, 2-0.

Just like their game vs. Wyoming on Friday, the Aztecs dominated possession and continued to do so despite being up by two goals and the constant substitutions by both teams on a hot Sunday afternoon. The persistence paid off one more time when Utush beat a defender along the left flank and centered her pass to senior Angela Mitchell, who went top shelf in the 52^nd minute to push SDSU ahead, 3-0. The goal was Mitchell’s second of the season and with her two assists, Utush ran her 2017 total to seven.

From there, San Diego State continued dictate the pace and thwart every CSU possession down the stretch. The Aztec defense was particularly impressive, allowing just three shots in the second half, and it featured two saves by Gabby English and a pair by Kate Hart, who played the final 20:57 in her first game of the season.

SDSU finished with 17 shots, including nine on goal, and permitted seven Ram attempts with only four coming on target. The Aztecs also enjoyed a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks in what was the final home game for seniors Hailey Balma, Dani DeRosa, Xochi Hunter, Mitchell, Stacie Moran and Utush.

San Diego State will now prepare for its regular-season finale, which is set for Friday night at New Mexico. First tap is schedule for 7:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. PT and the game will stream live on the Mountain West Network.

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