Fresno State Athletics

THE BREAKDOWN

Fresno State sits second in the Mountain West standings at 3-0-1 (10 points).
The Bulldogs are tied for the program's best four-game start to any conference season (1999).
The 'Dogs have jumped to the top of the league both offensively and defensively through four conference games following their dominant wins last weekend over Colorado State (3-0) and Wyoming (5-0).

Fresno State (5-3-3, 3-0-1 MW) at Utah State (9-3-1, 2-2-0 MW)
Date: Friday, Oct. 8
Time: 12 p.m. PT
Where: Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field (Logan, Utah)
Live Video: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: Sidearmstats

Fresno State (5-3-3, 3-0-1 MW) at Boise State (7-4-1, 1-2-1 MW)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 10
Time: 12 p.m. PT
Where: Boas Soccer Complex (Boise, Idaho)
Live Video: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: Bulldogslive.com

OFFENSE OR DEFENSE... WE CHOOSE BOTH

Following a weekend that saw Fresno State outscore Colorado State and Wyoming by a combined scored of 8-0, the Bulldogs have jumped to the top of the league both offensively and defensively through four conference games.

Fresno State is first in goals (11), shot percentage (.275), points (34), goals allowed (2), save percentage (.875) and scoring margin (2.25).
Kassandra Ceja leads the offense, ranking in the Top 2 in the conference in goals, assists, points and game-winning goals. Defensively, Ella Willson is in the Top 2 in goals against average and save percentage.

STARTING OFF RIGHT

Through four Mountain West matches, Fresno State sits second in the league standings with 10 points at 3-0-1. It is the program's best start through four games since joining the league, and is tied for the best start to any conference season (1999).

In the current Mountain West format of two matches per weekend (started in 2013), Fresno State's highest point total through its first four conference games entering this year was 7 (2-1-1) in 2019.

LEARNING FROM THE PAC

In its two matches against Pac-12 opponents, Fresno State was outscored by a combined 7-2 by Oregon and Oregon State. Those two contests were the Bulldogs' first two of the season. Since then, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 17-4.

Fresno State is 5-1-3 since Aug. 28.

LOOKING TO MAKE A RETURN

The Bulldogs are four matches into Mountain West play in which means every point going forward matters. In each of the last three seasons that saw them reach the Mountain West tournament (2017, 2018, 2019), Fresno State has finished in the top six of the conference to earn a spot in the postseason tournament.

The Bulldogs finished with 17 point twice and 18 points once. The 'Dogs are more than halfway to those numbers with seven games remaining.
Last spring, the 'Dogs recorded 19 points while playing only five teams from the West Division (Boise State, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State and UNLV) though only the top team in each division made the championship match.

NEWCOMER IMPACT

During the first weekend of Mountain West play, six of the Bulldogs' nine points came from newcomers. The points included both goals in Fresno State's 2-1 win over Air Force and an assist on the on the game-tying goal against Colorado College. A week later, the newcomers accounted for seven points.

Newcomers have accounted for 26 of the team's 59 points.
Freshmen Kaelyn Miller and Sam Tristan are tied for second the team in goals with three while Jaylyn Wright is fifth with two. The trio has accounted for five of the Bulldogs' 11 goals in conference play.
Kansas transfer Chais Wright is second on the team in assists with three. All three of the junior's helpers have come while playing the left back spot.

HIGH FIVE X2

With Fresno State's 5-0 win over Wyoming on Oct. 3, it marked the second time this season that the Bulldogs had scored five goals in a match (UCSB, Wyoming). Prior to this season the 'Dogs hadn't scored five in a match since Oct. 10, 2004 versus Nevada (5-1).

Fresno State has now earned two victories by five-goal margins this season. The Bulldogs hadn't had one game with a five-goal margin since Sept. 12, 2004 versus Sacramento State (5-0).
Fresno State has not had multiple five-goal games in a season since 2004. It is only the third season that a Bulldog team has recorded more than one game with five goals or more (2003, 2004).
It was the ninth time in Fresno State's 27-year history that the Bulldogs have scored at least five goals in a game.

BUILDING A WALL

During the first four games of September, the 'Dogs have allowed just one goal. It is the least amount of the goals allowed by Fresno State during a four-match stretch since 2016 (Sept. 4-18). Since the start of September alone, Fresno State has just four goals in eight matches.

With shutouts against Saint Mary's (Sept. 5) and UCSB (Sept. 9), the Bulldogs notched back-to-back shutouts for the first time since recording a pair of 2-0 wins over Wyoming and Nevada on Oct. 13 and Oct. 17 of 2019. The 'Dogs did that feat again on this past weekend with shutouts of Colorado State (Oct. 1) and Wyoming (Oct. 3).
The Bulldogs have seen three keepers play throughout the stretch with Ella Wilson and Valentina Vivas splitting the starts. The keepers have four combined shutouts along with one solo shutout (Wilson) in 11 matches.
The same four defenders have started the the last seven matches of the nonconference schedule (Kylie Lucero, Jordan Lau, Robyn McCarthy, Chais Wright).

RISING TO THE TOP

After not recording a point during the opening week of conference play, Kassandra Ceja now founds herself ranked No. 1 points (9), assists (3), game-winning goals (2) and is No. 2 goals (3) through four Mountain West matches following last weekend's MW Offensive Player of the Week performance.

On the weekend, she was involved six of the team's eight goals, and scored her three goals on just four shots.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE

Utah State enters the weekend sitting fourth in the Mountain West with six points following a pair of losses last week at New Mexico and San Diego State.
The Aggies were the MW's top team during the nonconference season, earning a 7-1-1 record.
USU has scored 19 goals on the year, allowing 12.
Ashley Cardozo is the straw that stirs the drink for the Aggies as the senior has a league-best 18 points. She ranks No. 1 in assists with eight and No. 6 in goals with six.
Sara Taylor joins Cardozo in double-figure point totals with 10 (3G/4A).
Diera Walton has played every minute in goal for Utah State and ranks fourth in the conference in goals against average (0.87) and third in save percentage (.833). The junior has four shutouts on the year.

SERIES HISTORY

The Bulldogs are 8-7-4 all-time against Utah State.
While the 'Dogs are .500 at home in the series, they are just 1-4-2 in Logan. Their only win in Utah was on Oct. 21, 2018 (1-0). Prior to that match, the Bulldogs had lost the last four straight in the series (2014-17).
Fresno State is 2-5-2 in the series. during the last 10 years.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE

The Broncos head into the weekend after a pair of losses last weekend at San Diego State and New Mexico, and are currently in seventh in the standings at 1-2-1 (7-4-1 overall).
While Boise State ranks fifth in the conference in scoring with 17 goals, they have allowed a league-low eight at the other end.
Genevieve Crenshaw and Sydney Smith have split time in goal. Each has two solo shutouts to their name, but the two have also combined for another three.
Four Broncos have found the back of the net on multiple occasions with Keile Hansen scoring a team-high three goals.

SERIES HISTORY

Fresno State holds a slight advantage all-time against the Broncos with an 11-10-2 record in the series.
The Bulldogs are 3-1 in the last four matches.
Since 2009, the 'Dogs and Broncos have played 14 times, 10 of those finished 2-1 with Boise State holding a 7-3 advantage in those games.

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