After being on the road for two weeks, the women’s soccer team returned home and drew 1-1 against the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros on Thursday afternoon.
The tie was the first draw of the season for the Broncos and left them at an 8-3-1 overall record and 4-1-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference.
“I didn’t think we started with the right intensity against a team who is very intense, physical and dynamic. We kind of found ourselves behind in terms of momentum in the game,” head coach Jay Mason said. “I just felt like we weren’t dialed in like we normally are and a team like that thrives off of it. And credit to them; they were better than us today.”
Hector Amezquita | The Poly Post
The Toros outshot the Broncos with 13 shots, eight of which were on target, compared to the Broncos who had eight shots and only two on target. The Broncos sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Williams had seven saves in the game.
“I think we started off kind of slow, and I think we did get better as we got the goal,” Williams said. “As (we) got our momentum up, we got better. But one slip up and they capitalize, and that’s on us. And we just have to keep moving on from here.”
To start the first half, the Toros came out strong and had five shots in the first 20 minutes. During that span, Williams was crucial in keeping the Toros at bay, thanks to her outstanding saves that denied the Toros a goal.
The Broncos didn’t have a shot until minute 21, when sophomore midfielder Jazmin Duran took a shot that went out left of the goal.
After putting up the first shot, the Broncos took control of the game and pushed forward in search of a goal with two shots in less than three minutes. The first shot came from freshman forward Cassie Snow, which went out left of the goal, followed by junior defender Taylor Rasmussen’s shot that went right of the goal.
Six minutes before the end of the half, the Broncos had complete possession of the ball and that was evident, when the Toros, in search of stopping the Broncos, committed a foul between the goal box and the half of the field.
Despite the long distance, Snow stepped up to take the free kick and fired a shot to the top left corner of the goal to give the Broncos the lead going into the halftime.
“The goal was pretty big for me; it’s my first goal that counts as a collegiate goal. So, it was exciting,” Snow said. “It’s been a few games that I thought I was going to get close to it, but it definitely brought my confidence up to keep playing,”
The Broncos’ offensive struggles continued in the second half, and they were only able to put up one shot in the second half. The shot came in the 17th minute, after senior forward/midfielder Amanda Duran’s shot went out right of the Toros’ goal.
The Toros on the other hand showed their dominance with early shots in the beginning of the second half, but fortunately for the Broncos, Williams denied the Toros. Around the 72nd minute, the Toros’ perseverance paid off with their first goal, after a double-header from their players in the Broncos’ goal box sent the ball to the back of the net.
During the first half of overtime, both teams failed to put up any shots. Despite both teams’ struggles during the second overtime half, it didn’t stop them from looking to win the game, as both teams had a combined five shots in the final eight minutes of the match.
The Broncos took on the Cal State L.A. Eagles on Sunday morning.
Despite six shots on goal in the first half, the scoreless game headed to the half.
There was still no score at the end of regulation, so both teams headed to overtime.
For the second time this weekend, after two scoreless overtime periods, the Broncos ended in a draw.
The Broncos return to action Friday at 12:30 p.m., when they host Humboldt State at Kellogg Stadium.