Ryan ChartrandThe bench cleared as the Cal Poly women’s soccer team scored in the 107th minute to conclude its 1-0 win against Cal State Fullerton in the team’s second straight double-overtime contest Sunday afternoon at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Cal Poly midfielder Sharon Day hit a low-bouncing corner kick near the front post. Fullerton goal keeper Shayla Sabin sprang for the ball, but met a Cal Poly player instead. The ball was deflected to the middle of the box where defender Erica Leger drove it through a sea of Titan defenders into the upper left corner of the net. Not a second elapsed before she was swarmed by her ecstatic teammates.
The Mustangs improve to 2-8-1 overall and 1-2 in the Big West after they persevered through warm weather and the emotional toll of its double-overtime loss Friday night against Riverside.
“I think in the first half we were a little off,” head coach Alex Crozier said. “We had a tough overtime game against Riverside Friday night so we were playing kind of tired. You have to dig a little deeper on days like today and make that little extra effort to get a touch on the ball.”
The Mustangs started the first half with some careless turnovers and loose play, which led to many Titan counter attacks.
Fullerton controlled the tempo and maintained possession during most of the half.
The Titans couldn’t capitalize early when Brianna Buffington dribbled past a few defenders and drove a low shot toward the corner, which was met by Poly keeper Alli Tramel with one of her three diving saves. Tramel turned in another impressive performance by posting her third shutout and seven saves.
“(Trammel has) been stepping up big for us all year,” said Crozier. “We are not scoring goals and putting teams away so we put her in a position where she has to save our butts and she did today. But this time we pulled it off.”
The Mustangs came out energized and forced the issue in the second half. The team’s aggressive play and crisp passing swayed momentum to its side.
“We just had to pick up the intensity, get a little sharper and work for our teammates a little more,” said Crozier.
Both teams had their chances to score. Although the Mustangs’ offense was not fluid at times, its defense held strong throughout the game. The girls preserved the shutout by constant physical play on both the defensive and offensive side.
“Fullerton is a physical and hard-working team,” said Tramel. “There was definitely a sense of urgency. We realized our season could be over if we lose, so we stepped it up.”
Leger said that all the substituted players really set the tone and all the girls needed was a spark to get them going.
“We were so frustrated after every loss because we played well in every game but hadn’t been able to finish,” said Leger. “Everyone wants it, we just needed to remember what it feels like to win. This is a turning point for our season; Fullerton was one of the best teams in the league.”
Cal Poly hopes that this momentum will carry on through the remainder of the season.
“We have been improving every game and we were due to catch a break,” said Crozier. “Our goal is to try to win the conference and host it here. I feel we have the monkey off our back now and we can just go out and play.”
The Mustangs will travel to UC Irvine Sunday to play another conference match against Anteaters at 7 p.m.