Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawai'i
Championship Reward For Overtime Goal By Lugo
10/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 29, 2006
Fresno, Calif. - The defense remained just as advertised. Holding the opponent scoreless for their 14th shutout, senior Antonea Lugo punched home her fifth goal of the season in overtime to give the Bulldogs the regular season WAC title with an unbeaten 6-0-1 record. Fresno State became the first team to go through conference play without allowing a single goal in WAC history.
Following two scoreless periods, Fresno State took the opening kickoff and after working the ball around to right defender Aubrey Tennant, who sent a ball into a glut of Fresno State forwards and midfielders. Finding the perfect position, Lugo put the ball past Hawai'i goaltender Kori Lu, who had already made three outstanding saves on the night in the first minute of overtime.
"Winning on a sudden death goal like that for the championship, that's about as exciting as games can get," said head coach Steve Springthorpe. "I'm just really happy for our team to have gone unbeaten, as well as unscored upon in conference."
Needing a win for the conference championship, Fresno State came out firing on all cylinders in the first half in what was a competitive, hard-fought game. Lugo had the first shot for the Bulldogs in the fifth minute, and one minute later, the Bulldogs were stopped for the first time by Lu, who made a diving block to her right to stop a Cortney Sobrero boot from directly in front of the goal.
Fresno State would have two more strong chances to score in the first half, even after having a season-high eight offsides calls go against them. In the 12th minute, an entrance pass was headed out by the Hawai'i defense, ricocheting back to Amanda Reyes, whose lob onto goal was punched out just over the goal in an another outstanding save from Lu. Then, in the closing minutes of the half, a crossing pass from the left side found midfielder Megan Tennant, who drilled a shot off the crossbar, keeping the game knotted at two.
Hawai'i, after being outshot in the first half 9-0, came out and evened the attack in the second period, taking four shots to Fresno State's six. The Rainbow Wahine's closest opportunity for a goal also came in the second half, as Fresno State goaltender Angie Larsen made a sliding save in traffic against a Taryn Fukuroku shot in the 56th minute.
Kori Lu had one more outstanding save in her, however. Dulled by the numerous offsides calls against the Bulldogs, Erika Sugano came out clean in front of the Wahine back line, and had a breakaway against Lu in the 63rd minute, but was stopped to keep the scoreless tie. A flurry of late shots for the Bulldogs did not find the net, as both teams readied for the upcoming overtime and Lugo's heroics.
"We weren't worried going into overtime, even though anything can happen," said Springthorpe. "We'd had a lot of scoring opportunities in the game, and felt that eventually we'd stick one in. And leave it to one of our seniors, Antonea, who took a great ball from Aubrey Tennant and stuck it right into the net. It's great to see someone that's meant so much to us on the season get a reward like that."
With a 12-5-2 overall record, the Bulldogs will enter the WAC Tournament in Reno this next week with the No. 1 seed, earning a bye for the first round of play Nov. 2. The Bulldogs will play the winner of an opening round winner on Nov. 3, with the championship being held on Sunday, Nov. 5. Fresno State won the WAC Tournament last season, and will be looking to defend their title, as well as earn an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
