CHICO, Calif. – The 17th-ranked Chico State women’s soccer team went into halftime of its California Collegiate Athletic Association opener against Cal State Monterey Bay feeling pretty good, up 2-0. Then, pretty good turned into unbelievable in an 8-0 Wildcats victory.
Alison Sward scored in the 51st minute. Then Katherine Bagwell scored in the 57th minute. Then Melissa Lindsay in the 63rd, Tracee Sterry in the 68th, Lindsay again in the 69th, and Sterry again just 23 seconds later.
The 8-0 win was Chico State’s most dominant victory since a 10-0 thrashing of Concordia University on Sept. 13, 1997, and their fourth most-lopsided vicory ever.
Sterry broke the CCAA record for fastest consecutive goals by scoring twice in the span of 1:27. The record had been held by her teammate, Abby Stretch.
Sterry, Lindsay, and Bagwell notched two goals apiece in the match, while Lindsay also dished out an assist. Katie McIntosh dished out three assists.
Chico State improved to 4-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the CCAA with the victory. Cal State Monterey Bay is 0-1-0 overall and the same in CCAA action.
Stretch got the Wildcats on the board in the 17th minute. McIntosh’s centering ball was deflected by a defender and landed at the feet of Stretch, who buried a shot into the roof of the net from 20 yards.
Bagwell scored in the 25th minute to make it 2-0. Whitney MacDonald started the play with a pass to Ashley Gunther, who was making a run down the center of the field. Gunther touched the ball twice and then slipped a pass through the defense to Bagwell, who went high and far post for the score.
Sward fought her way through a trio of defenders and blasted a 12-yard shot into the far corner of the net in the 51st minute to give Chico State a 3-0 cushion. The Wildcats made it 4-0 when Carly Atkins’ perfectly-timed pass found Bagwell in stride, leaving her one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and she beat her far post.
Then the real scoring onslaught began. Lindsay headed in McIntosh’s corner for a 5-0 lead. She then blasted a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper and straight to Sterry, who put it in the back of the net to make it 6-0. It was 7-0 just over a minute later when Lindsay headed in another of McIntosh’s corners, and Sterry finished the scoring with a 15-yard shot set up beautifully by Molly McFadden cross.
Kari Gonzales made two saves and Natalie Bensky added another as they combined on the shutout for the Wildcats. Gonzales earned the win, pulling her to within one game of Nicole Adams’ Chico State record for career wins, which stands at 32.
The Wildcats outshot Monterey Bay 30-3 and had a 14-3 edge in shots on goal. They also took nine corner kicks to the Otters’ one.
Both teams are back in action Sunday. Chico State will host San Francisco State at 12:30, while Monterey Bay will travel to take on Cal State Stanislaus.
