To qualify for the Mountain West Conference Championship Tournament, the San Jose State women’s soccer team had to defeat one of the university’s greatest historical rivals: Fresno State.

Having won 9 games this year, including 6 home tilts, Fresno seemed evenly matched with SJSU in a game that kept spectators on the edge of their seats.

The Spartans came from behind to take down the Bulldogs in their regular-season finale, qualifying for the Mountain West tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

Senior defender Kristen Amarikwa credited both team and individual progress to get them to the tournament.

“We’ve really come together, there were sometimes when we weren’t generating goals or shots,” Amarikwa said. “Once we started getting those goals going it was really awesome to see.” 

Fresno State stayed ahead of SJSU by one goal for a little over a third of the game.

By the halfway point of the game, SJSU scored a goal of its own, leaving the Spartans and Bulldogs tied at 1-1.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, senior defender Carlie James changed the game.

James’ game-winning shot went in at the 84th minute to put SJSU ahead, 2-1.

After the game, James reflected on the way the team has evolved over the last several months.

“We came with the idea of playing possession, it didn’t really happen in the beginning,” she said. “But then we buckled down and said, ‘No, if we want to get to the NCAA playoffs we need to keep playing this kind of game.’”

Head coach Lauren Hanson served as a driving force to get the team where they needed to be, and shared her feelings after the game.

“[I’m] obviously excited, happy for the staff and team,” Hanson said.

She also spoke highly of the leadership the players took both on and off the field.

“This is an emotional game and I think emotion drives the game and I think that if you get high or too low, it’s not a good thing,” Hanson said. 

Hanson said that keeping a level-headed mindset is important especially in games like these.

No. 5 SJSU will face No. 4 New Mexico in the quarterfinals at Boise State today. Earlier this season, the Spartans defeated the Lobos 2-0 on the road.

The winner will face No. 1 Boise State Thursday.