Box Score The game of soccer is played on a pitch a minimum of 70 yards wide and 115 yards long. That equates to 10,432,800 inches. Friday night one of those inches decided the match in the 14th-ranked Chico State women’s soccer team’s 2-1 overtime loss to visiting Cal State Monterey Bay.
Four minutes after Jennie Barto pounded a shot off the post (the Wildcats second shot that drew iron on the evening), the Otters’ Andrea Davis poked home the game-winning goal on a breakaway for a 2-1 overtime victory at University Soccer Stadium. It marked the Otters first ever win against Chico State in their 12th meeting.
Kristen Womack assisted on the goal, using her speed to turn the corner and force Wildcats goalkeeper Brianna Furner to commit before sliding a pass through the box to Davis, who simply redirected it home with her instep into the vacant net.
Chico State fell to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association while Cal State Monterey moved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the CCAA.
Furner twice kept the match tied in the second half with super saves. First she stoned Davis who was running free on a breakaway with a sliding stop. Then she fisted Regan Porteus’ pretty volley toward the near-upper V off the crossbar. She finished with a season-high five saves, all of which came in the second half.
The Wildcats looked to have the win in hand when Barto hit a blast from 20 yards that ricocheted off the top third of the near post and then bounced flew across the mouth of the goal before landing wide.
Earlier in the evening, Scotie Walker knocked a shot off the bottom half of the crossbar and then had her follow-up attempt saved nicely.
The Wildcats’ frustrations proved ironic since they had scored on just their second shot of the match 7:47 in. Gail Bassett headed home Barto’s corner high into the net at the far post to give Chico State a 1-0 lead. Shelby Dunlap drew the corner with a nifty play.
But the Wildcats’ next 12 shots proved fruitless. There were the two that drew iron, along with the trio that were saved and seven that weren’t on frame. Both Denni Jo Berger and Jenny Konishi had promising tries that sailed just wide.
Cal State Monterey Bay evened the match in the 26th minute. Shoshana Wangerin broke down the defense with some nifty ball handling before slipping a pass to Womack, who cracked a low liner just under the hand of the charging Furner that snuck inside the near post.
The Wildcats finished with a 14-12 advantage in shots, but that was after enjoying an 8-4 edge in the first half. They took four corners to Cal State Monterey Bay’s three, though the teams’ chances from that spot were even after halftime.
Chico State is back in action Sunday morning when it wraps up its season opening six-match homestand against Cal State East Bay at 11:30.
