TURLOCK — On a night when the program celebrated its 20th season and threw a party for its alums, the current Stanislaus State women's soccer team didn't disappoint in winning an overtime thriller, 2-1, late Friday night at Warrior Stadium.
Jade Poon's beautiful header goal stopped the clock at 95:55 for an exciting finish as the Warriors improved to 7-4-2 overall and 2-4-1 in CCAA play. Cal State San Bernardino is now 6-7-1, 4-5-0 CCAA.
For the fifth consecutive meeting between these two sides, the match was decided by one goal. And for the second straight time in Turlock, the Warriors were victorious by the 2-1 score.
"We played fantastic soccer tonight. Throughout the match we were very aggressive going forward and creating chances," head coach
Gabriel Bolton said. "The thing that stood out tonight was the leadership displayed by Montse (
Gabriela Vargas), Jade and
Haley Crook. Their will to win was contagious."
Poon's game-winner, the 12th of her career (moving her to No. 2 on the Stan State career list), was set-up perfectly by Kinsey Pettigrew's service from the far side. Pettigrew had received the pass from a
Kassandra Le free kick. Poon had almost won the match two minutes earlier when she juked a defender for a 1-v-1 chance against goalkeeper Destiny Collins, but her shot hit the near post.
Statically, Poon has notched herself in the Warriors' history as the best player not named Kareen Demery — who was in attendance Friday night. Poon is now second in goals (34), points (85) and game-winning-goals (12). Her 16 assist total puts her at No. 8.
After CSUSB take a 1-0 lead on a Alexia Gonzalez goal, Vargas tied the score in the 21st minute via a similar scoring play as the winner. A Le free kick was sent into the box with Poon flicking to Vargas for the shot.
At halftime of Friday night's match — which started 48 minutes late due to a double overtime men's match prior — Stan State honored a large group of former Warriors as part of its 20th anniversary celebration.
"It was a great evening seeing all of our alumni. They are an impressive group of women and it was great to honor them tonight with a celebration and a win," Bolton concluded.
