Box Score Jennie Barto finally hit her stride at the end of her sophomore season in 2010, scoring three goals in the Wildcats’ final three matches. That finish, coupled with a strong spring, sprouted hopes in Barto and her coaches and teammates for a junior year to remember. But Barto tore up her knee for the second time in four years at the end of that spring.
Friday, Barto reminded her coaches and fans that she might have a junior year to remember after all, even if it did happen on a night to forget.
Barto blasted a bullet off the Golden Eagles’ goalkeeper’s fingertips for her first goal since Oct. 25, 2010, and the Wildcats’ lone goal in a 4-1 loss to Cal State L.A. at University Soccer Stadium. Barto gathered Carly Singer’s cross near the top of the box and cracked a laser from 15 yards to cut the Cal State L.A. lead to 2-1 in the 56th minute.
But the third-ranked Wildcats’ early season shutout streak ended in an explosion of precision strikes by visiting Cal State L.A.. The Golden Eagles scored four times in the first 26 minutes of the second half, each time on a near-perfect shot inside the far post, in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener for both teams.
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Cal State L.A. improved to 2-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the CCAA. Chico State fell to 2-1-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the CCAA.
Cal State L.A. cracked the scoreless tie just 43 seconds into the second half and scored again less than five minutes later to take a 2-0 lead. The goals – one scored by Norie Pablo and the other by Shereen Khoobbagha – were eerily similar. Both began with aggressive attacks down the right flank and crosses to the top of the box. And both ended with precise and powerful strikes that tickled the net just inside the far post.
The momentum began to swing Chico State’s way, however, even before Barto cut the lead in half. She had hit the post with a rocket minutes earlier.
But Cal State L.A. put to bed any notions of a Wildcats comeback with Tera Piserchio’s low liner that snuck just under Chico State goalkeeper Brianna Furner’s fist and rolled home in the 71st minute. Tahne Apo added the final nail in the 84th minute after a nice combination with Natalie Gabriel left Apo with only Furner to beat.
The Wildcats, who had shutout five of their past six opponents, will attempt to bounce back Sunday at home against Cal State Dominguez Hills. The match, scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m., is the second game of a men’s/women’s doubleheader.
