The Fresno State women’s soccer failed to end the season on a positive note as they were defeated 2-0 by the San Jose State Spartans on Friday.
With the loss to the Aztecs, the Bulldogs are now eliminated from Mountain West tournament contention.
“We started out really well,” Fresno State head coach Brian Zwaschka said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to convert opportunities to score. Late in the game, we had to try to push to get to the goal and in doing so we got stretched out and we gave them just the opening they needed to place one in the net.”
The ‘Dogs played a tough 79 minutes, but in the 80th minute Spartan Darriell Franklin fired a shot from the far right wing and found the net.
Franklin didn’t take long to find the back of the net again as she scored again at the 82:33 minute mark with a shot from inside the box.
Fresno State’s offense struggled with the loss of one of their top performers, Myra Delgadillo.
She suffered an injury in the 25th minute that would not let her return for the rest of the match.
“A lot changed when Myra [Delgadillo] left the game,” Zwaschka added. “No team is the same when their leading scorer is on the bench.”
The ‘Dogs were outshot 21-6 with the Spartans also having more on goal shots (8-3).
The Bulldogs were also outkicked in the corners 7-4.
Sophomore Peyton Cline, who is fourth on the team in shots this season (29), was the only Bulldog to get off more than one shot.
Freshman goalkeeper Marie Berwinkel-Kottmann was between the post for the ‘Dogs, logging six saves in the match to raise her season total to 51 saves in 13 matches.
Delgadillo (six goals, two assists), Maria Gomez (two goals, one assist), Alyssa Holsworth (two assists) and Cline (one goal, 2 assists) led the Bulldogs offensively throughout the season.
Sophomore Sara Jo Ciapponi, juniors Amanda Nunes and Angie Weiner and senior Fanny Johansson served as the anchors on the defensive side.
“In the Mountain West, you have to get the details right, or your opponent is going to capitalize on your mistakes,” Zwaschka said. “Even through this last weekend, we had a chance to get into the tournament, but we didn’t quite get it done.”