Soccer battles No. 16 SMU to 1-1 tie

By Maggie Thach

After two overtimes, five yellow cards, 46 fouls and one ejection, the result of the women’s soccer match Sunday afternoon produced no winner. The second tie in as many games, Fresno State played 16th-ranked Southern Methodist Mustangs.

“Even though we should be happy with a tie, we thought we could compete with them,” said sophomore goalkeeper Jeannette Paine, who recorded four saves Sunday. “We wanted to win so badly.”

Trying to avenge a 6-1 loss last year to the Mustangs, who are the five-time defending Western Athletic Conference champs, the Bulldogs controlled the tempo for the majority of the first half and came out firing offensively. Fresno State attempted seven shots compared to SMU’s three. In the 20th minute, junior forward Kortney Lewis connected on a pass from junior midfielder Koleen Anderson and chipped it past the goalie, bringing her total to four goals this season.

“I’m glad I could contribute because it motivates us all,” said Lewis, the team’s second-leading scorer. “We did a good job all the way around. We were all mentally into the game.”

With a 1-0 lead heading into halftime, coach Steve Springthorpe was adamant about maintaining the team’s style of play and level of intensity.

“At Cal, we played laid back,” said Springthorpe. “We want to play at our level every time, no matter who we play.”

For the last ten minutes of the first half, Fresno State had trouble maintaining its intensity.

“They played a different formation and we tried to adjust,” said Springthorpe. “SMU definitely came out with more fire in the second half.”

Despite the surge of energy from the Mustangs, the Bulldogs maintained their 1-0 lead. Until the 58th minute. At 58:18, freshman defender Amanda Reyes was called for a handball. Lewis, looking to dispute the call, received a yellow card, the first of five called in the game. The call on Reyes led to a penalty kick by SMU’s Kimber Bailey, who found the net, knotting the score at 1.

The remainder of the second half proved to be a physical one, as shown by the 46 fouls committed, 29 of them by Fresno State. A third yellow card was given to senior defender Regina Esparza, who not more than 15 minutes later was called for a second, resulting in a red card. Esparza was ejected at 78:08 and the Bulldogs were forced to play one player short. Esparza will also have to miss the next match.