TURLOCK — The constant applying of offensive pressure finally paid off late in the match as the Stanislaus State women's soccer team rallied from behind with two second half goals to beat Cal State San Bernardino, 2-1, Friday night at Warrior Stadium.
Nichole Donald, a senior defender, scored her first career goal in the 88th minute to break the tie to give the Warriors a thrilling victory as they improved to 8-3-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
These three points allowed the Warriors to stay close with CCAA leader Sonoma State. The Warriors are in second place with 13 points, three behind the Seawolves, while five CCAA teams at all tied for third with 10 points. Cal State San Bernardino is one of those teams at 3-1-1 CCAA (4-4-3 overall).
"That was a huge win for our team. We played fantastic and deserved to get three points," head coach
Gabriel Bolton said. "San Bernardino is an excellent team. We gave an incredible effort and simply refused to lose tonight."
Cal State San Bernardino had the only score in the first half, a goal by Denae Verdine in the 21st minute, even though Stan State out-shot CSUSB, 7-2 in the opening 45 minutes. The final shot count was 15-7 in favor of Stanislaus.
Jade Poon scored her fifth goal of the season in the 57th minute for the equalizer when she collected a blocked-shot attempt by
Gabby Squarcia. Poon's blasted went to the upper V on the far side just out of reach of the CSUSB goalie Emily Whyte.
Donald finally put the Warriors ahead at 87:21 from a
Jordan Moineau corner kick that got knocked around in the box with Donald touching it home for the winner.
Stanislaus State improved to 4-1-1 at home this season after Friday's win in front of nearly 900 fans on Greek Week.
"The crowd tonight gave us a lot of energy. There is no doubt they were the 12th man," Bolton added.
The Warriors will try and break the win-every-other-game pattern on Sunday when they host Cal Poly Pomona at 2 p.m. Since Sept. 25 at Cal State San Marcos, the Warriors have gone 1-1 each week and are 3-2 in the last five contests.
