The Chico State women’s soccer team’s offense came out hot with three first-half goals to secure a 3-1 victory over Cal State San Bernardino on Friday night.
The Wildcats offense clicked early in the game, rushing down the field and controlling possession for much of the first half.
Freshman midfielder Makayla Cruz-Martinez opened the scoring in the 11th minute for the Wildcats with her first career goal with a low shot to the right corner off an assist from freshman defender Justyce Amey.
“When the goalkeeper touched it, I almost didn’t believe it went in,” Martinez said. “It’s a great feeling, almost like it’s unbelievable because I felt like it was going to take me longer to get there. But now that I’ve gotten there, I know I can do more things.”
Senior midfielder Taylor McMahon added to the lead in the 38th minute with a high shot to the right side of the net, assisted by senior midfielder Hannah Pieri.
Five minutes later, McMahon returned the favor with an assist to senior forward Jiana Martin to make it 3-0 going into halftime.
“We have multiple people that are targets, so it’s hard to just focus on one,” Head Coach Kim Sutton said.
The Wildcat defense held strong throughout the first half, limiting the Coyotes to eight shots.
“We were good at shutting them down when they came across the sidelines and across the middle,” freshman goalkeeper Kennedy Briseño said. “Our defense was very strong and we held together.”
The Coyotes responded with an early goal in the second half, and continued to apply pressure and make their way towards the goal numerous times, but couldn’t close the gap as the Wildcats defense shut them down repeatedly.
“It’s obviously high stress, high anxiety, but I trusted my teammates to get the job done,” Briseño said. “I knew they would trust me back when it came back at me to get the job done as well.”
The Wildcats had 11 total shots and five shots on goal, while Briseño finished with five saves over the full 90 minutes.
“We didn’t do a great job of keeping our composure a little and holding on to the ball at times, but we did enough,” Sutton said. “That’s all that really matters at the end of the day.”
So far this season, the Wildcats have followed up every win with either a draw or a loss. They hope to buck that trend as soon as this weekend.
The win improved their record to 5-5-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference as they look to carry the momentum into their next contest against San Francisco State on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
The University Soccer Stadium grants free entry with a Chico State student ID card or if a student presents their Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Rebecca Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
