Fresno State Athletics
Men's Soccer Wins WAC Championship
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
November 15, 1998
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State won its second Western Athletic Conference Championship in three years by defeating Tulsa in penalty kicks, 5-4. The Bulldogs will move onto the NCAA Tournament which begins on Friday, Nov. 20.
The first half saw the two teams fight for control of midfield as they combined for only four shots in the first half. Fresno State (11-5-5) jumped out on the Golden Hurricane in the second half and put pressure on Tulsa (13-6-2) goalkeeper Jeff McKeever. McKeever and his Fresno State counterpart, Jeff Fluharty, stopped all scoring opportunities in the first 90 minutes as the two teams went to overtime.
Fresno State had several scoring opportunities in overtime, but McKeever, who was named to the all-tournament team, silenced the Bulldogs and forced sudden death. In sudden death it was Fluharty's turn to deny Tulsa. Fluharty stopped Robbie Aristodemos shot from six yards out in the first sudden death period. After remaining scoreless through two sudden death periods, the match moved to penalty kicks.
Each team made its first two penalty kicks, but Fluharty stopped Tulsa's Chad Fisher on the third penalty kick. Ricardo Ramirez put Fresno State up 3-2 by sliding the penalty kick past McKeever. With the penalty kicks tied at four, defenseman Adam Maurer won the shootout for Fresno State by blasting a shot into the top right corner.
Fresno State receives the WACs automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will find out its seeding and the location of its first-round match Monday evening.
1998 WAC All-Tournament Team Robbie Aristodemo Midfielder Tulsa *Tournament MVP Donvian Bradshaw Forward Tulsa Chad Brown Forward Fresno State Ron Davis Forward Fresno State Eric Fenstermacher Defense Tulsa Luis Gonzalez Forward SMU Eduardo Martinez Forward San Jose State Adam Maurer Defense Fresno State Jesse Morgan Midfielder Fresno State Anthony Pampillonia Defense Tulsa Tony Soto Defense SMU Jeff McKeever Goalkeeper Tulsa
