Aztecs women’s soccer sweeps weekly Mountain West awards
SDSU takes home Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Freshman of the Week awards for the MW.
San Diego State women’s soccer brought home all three of the Mountain West weekly awards, the league announced Monday. Denise Castro was named the Offensive Player of the Week, Alexa Madueno earned Defensive Player of the Week and Mia Lane garnered Freshman of the Week for the first-place Aztecs.
In the first week of conference play, the trio led the Aztecs to a 5-0 shutout win over Nevada on Thursday and a 2-0 victory over UNLV on Sunday. San Diego State (4-5-1) is joined by Colorado State atop the conference standings with a perfect 2-0 record in Mountain West play.
The reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, Castro exploded offensively this week. She scored in the 11th and 51st minutes in Thursday’s win over Nevada for the first two Aztec goals in the 5-0 win. The brace was her second of the season and she passed Aliyah Utush for sixth in program history, reaching 72 points, while passing Hannah Keane for fifth in the school record book with 30 goals.
Castro was not done, scoring once more in the 87th minute in Sunday’s victory to provide important insurance for SDSU. The goal tied her with Keane for fifth in points in team history with 74. This season, her six goals (.60 per game), 13 points (1.30 per game) and two game-winners lead the Aztecs. In the Mountain West, she is tied for the lead in goals, holds the second spot in points per game and is tied for second in goals per game and shots. Castro ranks in the top 100 in the nation in goals (67th) and goals per game (58th) as well as game-winning goals (67th).
After shattering Aubree Southwick’s program career saves record last week, Madueno stepped up her game even more to begin Mountain West competition. She played all 180 minutes in goal this week, saving all six shots on goal in each Aztec win to record a pair of shutouts.
Madueno's 12 save week moved her career total to 356, becoming the first Aztec to pass the 350 saves plateau. Her two shutouts this week were the second and third of her season and 24th and 25th of her career. That total puts her in third in the program record book in shutouts, just a half behind Melanie Vaughn (25.5) and one behind Southwick (26) for the career record.
One of five San Diego State true freshmen this season, Lane entered the week with just three shots (two on goal) as her career stats. That changed on Thursday against Nevada, as the Chula Vista native scored her first collegiate goal in the 83rd minute on a pass from Riley Gumm. Lane proved she could do more that just score as five minutes later, she found Boston Girman for her first career goal and Lane’s first career assist. Lane joined Alexyz Nakamoto as the second Aztec freshman to score this season and the pair are the first two Aztec freshmen to score in the same season since 2021, when Castro had eight goals and Alexys Ocampo scored once.
SDSU hits the road this week with two matches, at No. 10 Utah State on Thursday and at Boise State on Sunday. Both opponents won and tied to begin conference competition, and each match will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
