'Dogs could clinch WAC berth
With win over
struggling Louisiana Tech, Bulldogs could secure trip to WAC tourney
Ryan Tubongbanua
/ The Collegian
Cortney Sobrero, the
team’s leading scorer, splits two CSU Bakersfield players
Oct. 2, the last time the team played at home. Fresno State will
look for its first home win when they return to Bulldog Stadium
against Louisiana Tech. |
By Maggie Thach
The Collegian
Thanks to a sweep this weekend
over Idaho and Boise State, the Bulldogs are in position to clinch the
11th consecutive WAC tournament berth with a win over a Louisiana Tech
team that has yet to win a conference game, or even score a goal for that
matter, tonight at Bulldog Stadium.
“We don’t want to underestimate [Louisiana Tech],” said
goalie Angie Larsen, who was this week’s WAC defensive player of
the week. “[The two-game win streak] gives us an edge but we’re
not looking at that too much. We just want to go and get the job done.”
While the Lady Techsters look for their first conference win, the Bulldogs
will look for their first win at Bulldog Stadium.
Fresno State hasn’t won at home since an exhibition game against
Fresno Pacific back in September.
“We’ve won five games on the road and with three home games
left, we haven’t won at home yet.
Yeah, it’s a concern,”
head coach Steve Springthorpe said. “But we’ve played well
at home. We just haven’t scored when we needed to or given up a
score at a bad time. But we’ve done well.”
Because this year is Louisiana Tech’s second in the conference,
the match-up will be the first time the teams face each other.
“It’s a disadvantage for both of us. They haven’t seen
us play,” Springthorpe said. “But we’re not going to
spend too much time scouting them. It’s always more about us and
how we feel.”
Fresno State players are happy to see Louisiana Tech at home after four
games on the road.
“It’s good we get them first because we can take the momentum
from the two wins into Friday and then into Sunday,” junior Cortney
Sobrero said. “It’s going to be a good preparation for Utah
State.”
The team will again look to Sobrero and senior Kortney Lewis, both of
whom have been responsible for most of the team’s offensive output.
Lewis has scored three goals and added five assists this season. Sobrero
leads the team in shots, with 51 and four goals. One of her goals came
in the win over Idaho last week, a game that broke a four-game losing
streak.
“Coming off our loss in Nevada, that really got us more focused,”
Springthorpe said. “We started playing better defense as a team.
We kind of had our backs against the wall. In an eight-team conference,
we only have seven games. One loss makes a big difference.”
The Bulldogs may have a good shot at going undefeated for the rest of
WAC play. After Louisiana Tech, Fresno State plays Utah State and San
Jose State at home. The Bulldogs, Utah State and San Jose State all head
into the weekend with identical 2-1 records. After their three-game homestand,
the Bulldogs will travel to Hawaii. Hawaii, predicted to win the WAC title,
lost to Utah State last week.
“I absolutely like our chances. We have confidence now,” Springthorpe
said. “We struggled with that before. But, Louisiana Tech, they’re
going to be looking for their first win. We have to be ready for that.
They’re going to give
us a battle.”
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