Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
California
`Dogs Top Cal in Final Seconds, 11-10
4/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
By Josh Mitchell
jomitchell@csufresno.com
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. -- In a game that saw the lead change five times during the second half, Fresno State scored twice in the final two minutes to earn an 11-10 win over conference-foe Cal on Sunday afternoon at the Fresno State Soccer & Lacrosse Field. On Senior Day, it was freshman Lindsay Hobson who produced the game-winner on a free position shot with six seconds remaining in the contest.
The win was Fresno State's fourth of the season, which broke the program's previous single-season wins record of three.
"I thought we really performed well as a team today, which was huge," head coach Jessica Giglio said. "One of our seniors, Holly [Cisneros] is out with a season-ending injury and the girls really played for her with it being her last home game...Marcy [Levatino], our other senior stepped up with four goals and an assist and played lights out for us today."
Lizz Lavie opened up the game's scoring as Cal (2-10, 1-5 MPSF) grabbed a 1-0 lead a minute and half into the contest. Freshman Nicole Ortlieb then equalized the game for the Bulldogs (4-9, 2-5 MPSF) 27 seconds later with her 19th goal of the season. The Bears then scored twice within the ensuing three minutes to take a 3-1 lead.
Caroline Dineen-Carlson then began to make her presence felt. The sophomore leveled the game at 3-3 with back-to-back goals. She finished the day with three goals and a season-high six draw controls.
The Bears then countered with three unanswered goals, two coming from Meredith Haggerty, to take a 6-3 advantage 9-plus minutes to go in the first half. With 6:56 on the clock, senior Marcy Levatino tallied her first goal of the game to cut the deficit to two.
As Cal was looking to extend its lead back to three before halftime, the `Dogs came up with a crucial stop to keep the game at 6-4 heading into the break.
Fresno State's momentum carried into the second half hour as the team found the back of the net three times in just over five minutes with goals from Dineen-Carlson, Ortlieb and Levatino. The four unanswered goals that stretched back to the first half gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 7-6.
"At halftime, we talked to the team and said that `we have this, we just need to clean up a couple things,'" Giglio explained. "They responded so strongly. We came out and scored two goals really quick to tie it up and then just kept the momentum going."
Before 10 minutes had passed in the half, Cal regained the lead with a pair of goals from Brynn Gasparino and Sasha Anielski to take an 8-7 lead.
Levatino then began to take over as she refused to lose in her final home game. The senior twice made darting runs toward goal, firing the ball passed Bear goalie Kate Gutierrez to give the `Dogs a 9-8 lead with 15:41 left in the game.
Cal refused to go quietly, responding with two straight of its own to reclaim its lead with just over 10 minutes to play. Trailing by one and unable to convert on a late opportunity, Fresno State had to up its pressure in the final minutes. The pressure paid off as the Bears made a bad pass in their end that rolled out of bounds. Junior Anjelica Fuccillo then capitalized on the turnover, taking the ball in herself and rifling the game-tying goal passed Gutierrez with 1:51 to play.
On a pivotal draw, Cal drew the upper hand by taking the control. With seconds ticking off the clock, Fresno State locked down on defense and refused to allow the Bears to get a good look. With 29 seconds on the clock, Hobson drew a charge on Melissa Rubin to give the Bulldogs possession.
At the other end, Haggerty was whistled for a foul with nine seconds on the clock, allowing Hobson a free position attempt, but the Bears for the moment got through it unscathed. A yellow card, though, was drawn on Raabe Wheatley to give Hobson another chance. The freshman refocused and punished Cal as she scored on the free position attempt with six seconds remaining to lift the `Dogs to an 11-10 victory.
The Bulldogs will be off until April 24 when they face Colorado on the road, before finishing the regular season on April 26 at Denver.
