TURLOCK — The last name on the roster made the best first impressions Thursday night as freshman
Jenna Zuniga scored a goal and assisted on another in leading the Stan State women to a 3-0 win over Southern Oregon.
Autumn Halvorsen, another freshman, and sophomore
Micaela Brewer also scored their first collegiate goals as the Bench Mob accounted for all three Warriors scores. Stan State opened the busy opening weekend with the win ahead of Saturday's match on the road at Dominican. The Warriors will also host a Labor Day game Monday night against Notre Dame de Namur.
"From the beginning it's been obvious this is a special freshmen class. They have already started to prove that," said head coach
Gabriel Bolton.
Zuniga had the final touch in the first Warrior goal of the night from a
Sadie Montague corner kick in the 29th minute. In the second half, Zuniga sent the corner kick from the far-side into the box and Halvorsen headed it in to make it 2-0.
During the run of the play,
Micaela Brewer sent a cross through defenders to find
Rayana Plancarte, the reigning CCAA freshman of the year, streaking down the near-side. Plancarte slit an attempt wide to the far post where Brewer closed out the scoring play.
The Warriors made many great runs and attempts against the Raiders (1-1-0) to out-shoot SOU, 22-5 on the night. Stanislaus also had an 11-1 corner kick advantage, including nine in the second half.
The Stan State bench logged great minutes and accounted for all three goals. The reserves had five of the team's seven shots on goal and 13 of the 22 shots.
"Our subs came off the bench and took over the game. We call our players on the bench the bench mob. That mentality prepares you for your moment and those players took advantage of their moment," added Bolton.
Southern Oregon, the defending Cascade Collegiate Conference champion, played much better than the statistics show and had some chances as well. Coached by former Warrior Jenni Rosenberg, the Raiders came out on the attack early and pushed the Warriors deep into the zone.
Alyssa Herrman made her first official collegiate start in goal and recorded three saves.
