Chances of postseason play are still alive for the Fresno State women’s soccer team after defeating Colorado College 5-0, to pick up its fourth win of the season on Oct. 22.

After battling to get results at the beginning of the season, Head Coach Brian Zwaschka said he is glad to see his team’s performance reflected in the final score.

“It’s something that we knew we were capable of and to see it finally come to fruition, especially at home, it’s great for everybody,” Zwaschka said.

The Bulldogs (4-8-6) hold a 3-4-3 record in conference play and place sixth in the standings with one match left to play. They are in the run for one of the six spots in the Mountain West Championship tournament.

Fresno State played aggressively in the first half from the start and got on the scoreboard quickly. Forward Kaelyn Miller opened the score for the Bulldogs seven minutes into the match after receiving a pass from Ciara Wilson inside the box and evading Colorado College goalkeeper Regan Wallace.

Just three minutes later, midfielder Adriana Maldonado took advantage of a distraction on Colorado College’s backline with a throw-in to the box to find Miller, who tapped it over Wallace to make the score 2-0.

Zwaschka emphasized this play as an example of why staying focused for the whole match is key to getting results.

“I’m really happy for the team that they spotted something like that because those are moments that can make a difference. If the score is 0-0 and they spot that, it could be huge for the outcome of the game. To see them be sharp on that and create something out of nothing, obviously that’s huge,” he said.

Miller has been an important part of the Bulldog offense and is just recently contributing to the team’s results after battling to stay healthy.

The junior forward hurt the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) on her left knee at the beginning of the season, but fought through other injuries months before returning to the pitch.

She returned to action against San Diego State on Sept. 21. It took her weeks to recover her top form, but says she was excited to get back to playing with her teammates.

“I hurt my foot back in May, so I was out all summer. I came back, trained for a couple of days and pulled my quad pretty bad. Then I played in one game against Cal Poly [on Aug. 17] and sprained my LCL,” Miller said. “Just working my way back, taking rehab super seriously and then just getting back into the swing of things was really important. The girls welcomed me back really good, and it was just a great feeling to get back out there.”

Now Miller is Fresno State’s top scorer with six goals, all of them netted in the last five matches.

Fresno State netted its third goal in the 16th minute, this time with Miller picking up an assist and centering the ball to Wilson, who was wide open inside the box for the finish to put it in the bottom right corner.

Defender Sabrina Welch connected a low ball off of a corner kick from Wilson, as she rushed inside the box past the Colorado College defense to make the score 4-0.

Wilson currently leads the Bulldogs in assists with a total of six.

Fresno State goalkeeper Valentina Vivas wasn’t forced into much action because of the team’s dominance on the pitch, but came away with two saves before being substituted for Kaydence Cortez-Garcia who picked up one save to help secure the shutout.

Freshman Klara Chapeyrout sealed the 5-0 win for the Bulldogs after winning a long ball in the box and finishing it over the keeper’s head.

The Bulldogs have not scored five goals in a match since defeating Wyoming by this same score on Oct. 3, 2021.

This victory comes after defeating Air Force in Colorado on Thursday Oct. 19, marking Fresno State’s first winning streak in two years.

Fresno State is set to close the regular season at home on Senior Night against San Jose State on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m., in a crucial match that will determine whether or not the team will participate in the Mountain West Championship tournament.

A win against the Spartans would secure the team’s place in the postseason. In the event of a draw or loss, Fresno State would need to depend on a combination of other results to get a spot in the tournament.

Zwaschka prefers not to speculate with results and instead focuses on what his team will need to do to get a chance to compete for a Mountain West Championship.

“If we keep taking care of our own business that’s all I can ask for, and that’s the part that we have some control over,” Zwaschka said.