By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter
SJSU women’s soccer celebrates after scoring a goal. | Sarah Mosteller – The Spear
SJSU women’s soccer (3-3-5) took a commanding 3-0 victory against UNLV (5-3-4) on the road at Peter Johann Memorial Field.
Junior forward Bella Flocchini scored the first goal in the 18th minute and SJSU never looked back. This was Flocchini’s team-leading sixth goal of the season.
The defense was the deciding factor for San Jose State. Senior defender Phoebe Rapoza made a highlight play to save a goal in the 73rd minute of the game that had her flying into the back of the net to stop the shot.
Head coach Tina Estrada was proud of how her whole team performed top-notch against a good UNLV team.
“UNLV is a good team this year, they have some really good attackers and crafty players,” said Estrada. “For our team to come in and find rhythm on the ball, with each other, and create a lot of chances and execute on them, was awesome.”
Despite the lopsided score, UNLV outshot SJSU 22-13 but could not get the ball in the back of the net. The was partly due to SJSU goalkeepers combining for five saves on the night.
Two from sophomore goalkeeper Bente Pernot in the first half and three from junior goalkeeper Shayla Sugai in the second half.
The other goals on the night came from graduate student midfielder Sabrina Weinman, her fourth on the season, and senior midfielder Cynthia Flores, scoring her first goal of the season.
“This was a huge win for us at this point in conference play,” said Estrada. “We’re looking forward to just carrying that momentum, traveling and playing a good hard Reno team.”
SJSU women’s soccer will be back on the road to face Nevada (3-4-5) at Mackay Stadium at 1 p.m.