Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
7-11-3
San Jose State (WAC Tournament)
13-5-2
Lugo's Last Second Goal Lifts Bulldogs To Finals
11/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2006
Fresno, Calif. - It's becoming a habit. With the Bulldogs' championship hopes on the line, senior captain Antonea Lugo again stepped up to deliver the win, as she sent home the winning goal with eight seconds left in double overtime, off of a superb crossing pass from Andrea Salvador. With the win, Fresno State moves to the tournament finals, scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
"I really didn't know how much time was left," explained Lugo. "I just knew that their keeper missed the cross from [Salvador] and I had to be in the box to take my chance to finish the game." For the second game in a row, Lugo's overtime goal was the difference in a scoreless game. The play started as a ball played in from the back bounced to Andrea Salvador, who sprinted past the San Jose State defense to the right corner, and sent a hard crossing pass along the ground that found Lugo for the win.
With 6 minutes left in the second overtime, the Bulldogs had their best opportunity of the game to that point; one that was almost a duplicate of the eventual game-winner. A run by Nicole Gutierrez on the right side stretched the defense, and her crossing pass across the goal slipped past Spartan goaltender Marissa Dayton and just moved in front of a streaking Sobrero coming from the middle, who sent the shot wide of the goal to extend the game.
Through the course of the game, it was the defense again making their mark, recording their 15th shutout of the year over 110 minutes. That set a new conference mark in shutouts, overtaking the 14 that Rice made in 2004. Goaltender Angie Larsen continued her outstanding play between the pipes making six saves and lowering her goals against average to 0.49 in the process.
"Everybody really has an opportunity to win this tournament," said head coach Steve Springthorpe. "We were fortunate to get the win, to find our goal when we need it at the end. San Jose State is a good team, and the battled us very hard, but in the end, I thought that our team really perservered.
Even though it took almost 110 minutes to score a goal, one of Fresno State's best chances to score came in the first five minutes, as the Bulldogs grabbed a quick shot at goal. Using quick possession passing, the Bulldogs sent the ball to Sobrero in the middle who found Chelsea Davis on a run through the right side of the penalty box. However, Davis' shot on sailed just over the crossbar as the game remained scoreless.
The remainder of the game moved quickly, as both teams remained even in shots, but neither team was able to record a clean shot on goal, in what was a soggy, rainy game as most of regulation was played in a downpour.
"On field turf, like they have here in Nevada, the game really becomes a lot faster," explained Springthorpe. "Mistakes can add up, and the ball will not slow down like it does on grass. It can be tough to adjust to, and I think that's why you see the games here in the tournament opening up later as the teams get some experience on the playing surface."
Fresno State had a shot in the 81st minute, as a long pass snuck behind the San Jose State defense to Lugo, who set up Sobrero at the top of the box, but her quick shot was sent just wide of the goal as the game remained tied. The Bulldogs also had one last shot with 10 seconds remaining in the second half, as Sobrero took her sixth shot of the game, but Dayton made the stop for the Spartans as the teams entered overtime.
The WAC tournament continues on Sunday, as the Bulldogs advanced to the tournament finals for the second consecutive year. The team plays the winner of the Utah State-Nevada contest, which will be played later on Friday night.
Team Stats
Lugo, Antonea
Assisted By: Salvador, Andrea
cross finished off back post
109:52
