After three straight losses, the Horned Frog soccer team secured a dramatic overtime win against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas last Friday. This week, the Horned Frogs will be fighting for a win at home in their last home match of the season against the San Diego State University Aztecs.
Junior forward Jackie Torda was named Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week after her game-winning goal in the Horned Frogs’ 3-2 victory over UNLV.
“The whole team really worked hard for each other, we really created the goals we got,” Torda said, regarding the Horned Frogs’ win.
Head coach Dan Abdalla said Torda approached him three weeks ago and told him of her desire to play harder.
“It was fun to see her get rewarded in Vegas because she had been working at such a high level and had been playing as well as anybody in the conference … She is making other players around her better and raising everybody’s level,” Abdalla said.
SDSU junior goalkeeper Aubree Southwick was also recognized by the MWC and awarded the MWC Defensive Player of the Week award for the second straight week after leading the Aztecs in two wins and posting her eighth shutout of the season against UNLV. Abdalla said the Horned Frogs look forward to the challenge Southwick will give them offensively, especially due to the fact that Southwick played for Abdalla as a youth on his Olympic Development Program team.
“I think our kids will enjoy that challenge, we have some kids that are extremely hungry, that have been knocking on the door, so I think they’ll look forward to having the opportunity to keep what they had in Vegas going,” Abdalla said of his offensive line.
In MWC play, the Horned Frogs stand at 2-4-0 and 9-8-0 overall, while the Aztecs hold a 4-0-2 record in the MWC and are 11-3-5 overall.
Both teams need a win or a tie Friday in order control their own fates in terms of the MWC Tournament. Abdalla said the game will most definitely be an exciting and fun one to watch as both teams have a lot at stake and a lot to lose.
SDSU currently sits in second place behind Brigham Young University in the MWC. In order to win the MWC title outright, SDSU must beat the Horned Frogs and BYU must lose to Wyoming. In any outcome, the Aztecs will finish no worse than second place and have secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the MWC Championships.
Torda said the Horned Frogs have raised their intensity level in practice to prepare for Friday’s match.
“We’re out here, all competing and working hard for each other and it’s fun because people get pumped up,” Torda said.
Friday night is also senior night for the Horned Frogs and midfielder Kelly Faerber, forward Lizzy Karoly and midfielder Michelle Nguyen will be honored for their hard work and commitment to the program.
As far as the match itself, Abdalla said the Horned Frogs don’t need to make many changes in their strategy.
“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing, keep pressing the tempo of the game, being aggressive offensively and we’ve got to be a little bit sharper defensively,” he said.
