San Diego State Region Women's Soccer 2nd and 3rd Round Tournament Breakdowns
#2 San Diego State vs. California
As long as San Diego State is at home, they will be extremely tough to beat. The Aztecs defense is simply amazing and Megan Jurado knows how to score some goals too. SDSU got past an equally defensive team in Cal State Northridge in the first round. Hannah Keane and Jurado netted a couple early goals and that is all this team needs to win. California proved in the first round that they are capable of winning on the road. Ariana Martinez found the back of the net with less than five minutes remaining to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 win at Pepperdine. Cal will need to steal one away late from SDSU too.
UCLA has the depth and talent to play a variety of styles. If they need to pull out a 1-0 win, they are comfortable with that. But the offense is also extremely explosive and can get up and down the pitch in a flash. Both styles were on display in the Bruins 1-0 win over Wisconsin. The Bruins will host Kentucky, who beat Tennessee-Martin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats are mostly known for their defense and they will have difficulties trying to stop Zakiya Bywaters, Samantha Mewis, Taylor Smith and Rosie White.
If everything goes by the seeds, a game between UCLA and San Diego State could be one of the highlights of the tournament. There may not be a ton of goals in that contest since the Aztecs will force the Bruins to play their style, but it may just take a bit of luck or one amazing play for one team to advance from that contest.
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