SAN DIEGO – San Diego State rebounded from an early San José State goal to post a 2-1 victory on Sunday at SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs received goals from Aliyah Utush and Leah Pruitt to break a first-place tie with the Spartans in the Mountain West standings. SDSU improved to 11-4 (7-1 MW), while SJSU fell to 8-6-2 (6-2 MW).

 

“It was a great win for us as a program,” Aztec head coach Mike Friesen said. “It was fun on Senior Day to get a win to push them to the top of the list of winningest classes in SDSU history. The fact that we battled back from a goal down shows a lot of character and heart, and that exemplifies our seniors. They’ve been a part of changing our program and put us in spot to win a lot games. Sixty victories is a lot of wins. The fun part is that it isn’t over, we still have three more games, the conference tournament and hopefully a berth in the NCAA tournament, and we’ll see where this leads.”

 

Prior to the game, the Aztecs recognized the senior trio of Tiffany Geer, Ashley Hauke and Melanie Vaughn. That group has helped San Diego State win 60 games over their three-plus-year career on The Mesa, which is tied for the most wins over a four-year period in school history (1996-99).

 

After the pregame ceremonies, the Spartans stunned the Aztecs and the home crowd with a goal in the fourth minute. Carley McBeath threw the ball in from nearly the corner-kick position and found the head of Dorthe Hoppius, who knocked the ball in from two yards out.

 

San Diego State, however, answered less than a minute later off a familiar pass from Jen Rupey. The junior was along the right sideline and sent a perfect centering pass into the box. Utush sprinted to the far-post area and put a good foot on the ball to post her fifth goal of the season. For Rupey, the assist was nearly identical to the one she was credited for on Friday vs. Fresno State and it now gives her five on the year.

 

The teams went scoreless for the next 51 minutes until Milan Moses fed Pruitt on the right side of the pitch. From there, the Rancho Cucamonga native touched it once before blasting her shot into the near side of the cage past the leaping SJSU goalkeeper, Zoe Makrigiannis. The goal was Pruitt’s team-leading eighth of the year and the assist was Moses’ first of her career.

 

Playing with a lead now, San Diego State’s defense turned it up a notch in the final 34 minutes. For the duration of the game, the Aztecs allowed one 57^th-minute corner kick and two shots, both of which were wide. The two attempts occurred in the 85^th and 89^th minutes. In fact, SDSU held the Spartans without a shot for 37 minutes before the attempt in the 85^th.

 

San Diego State finished with advantages in shots (14-9), shots on goal (9-5) and corner kicks (9-3) in what was a very physical game that featured 22 fouls (SJSU, 12-10) and three yellow cards.

 

Utush led all players with four shots and shared game-high honors for shots on goal with Victoria Barba (3). Vaughn, meanwhile, made four saves in picking up win No. 11.

 

With the victory, the Aztecs completed their regular season with an unblemished 8-0 mark at home. It is only the second time in school history that San Diego State has gone through its regular-season home slate without a tally in the second column. The 2012 team was 10-0 at home before ultimately finishing with a 14-1 record after two MW Championship victories and a pair of NCAA tournament wins. The lone home loss came to UCLA in the Sweet 16.

 

Additionally, the Aztecs extended a school record with their 11^th triumph of the season. Prior to last season, SDSU had never posted three straight seasons with 11 wins or more. With the decision over SJSU, San Diego State has now reached 11-win plateau four consecutive years.

 

The Aztecs will now close the season with three straight road contests starting with Friday’s get-together at Air Force. The game is set for a 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT start at USAF Academy, Colorado. Fans can watch the game at GoAztecs.com via the Mountain West Network.