Photo by Vanessa Real
The San Jose State’s women’s soccer team continues to search for its first home win after tying 3-3 against the University of California, Irvine last Thursday.
The Spartans (1-3-2) held onto a 3-2 lead until a late Anteaters (3-2-1) goal in the 82nd minute awarded them their second tie this season.
After having one of her shots saved in the 20th minute of the game, junior forward Kennedy Mayo scored her first goal of the season giving the Spartans a 1-1 tie in the 30th minute.
“It felt amazing and refreshing honestly,” Mayo said. “I feel like I’ve been kind of in a hole since I’ve started. So now that I’ve scored I’ve opened up the game for myself and the rest of the year, so I’m excited.”
The Spartans and Anteaters were tied for less than a minute until junior forward, Bella Flocchinini, scored giving SJSU a 2-1 lead in the 31st minute.
“I saw their other centerback about to pass it across,” Flocchini said.“I anticipated and took the ball before the other girl got it. And then I didn’t want to be in front of the goalie, and thankfully I made it.”
Flocchini leads the Spartans with 3 goals this season.
Senior midfielder Sabrina Weinman scored her first goal of the season and extended their lead 3-1 in the 62nd minute.
Sophomore goalkeeper Bente Pernot would end the game with 3 saves and a season high of 3 goals allowed.
The Spartans’ head coach Tina Estrada said there were still positive things to be taken away from her team’s performance despite not getting the win.
“This is a really good tie for us. UC Irvine is an incredible team with a lot of firepower. We’re [going to] stick with some of the game plan that we had in our approach to UC Irvine, and hopefully recover and have the same approach on Sunday,” Estrada said.
The Spartans lost Sunday’s match against Saint Mary’s College 2-0. They will play Southern Utah at 12 p.m. on Sunday at the Spartan Soccer Complex.