By: Jasmina Lara (@jasmina_lara06) – Spear Reporter – SJSU Head Coach Sonia Curvelo motivating her team on Aug. 14 against Santa Clara. (Photo by Taylor Cowhey – Spear Photographer)
Winning their first game of the season, San Jose State’s women soccer (1-2-0) defeated University of California, Davis (1-1-1) 2-1 on Thursday night.
The Spartans started off strong with a shot on goal by junior forward Paige Pineda-Aliamus but blocked by Aggies redshirt junior goalkeeper Cat Pieper.
The first ten minutes of the match the Spartans offense took over possession of back to back opportunities with over nine shots compared to Aggies five shots.
In the 24th minute,Pineda-Aliamus put SJSU on the board first,with an assist by forward Sophia Martel.
“We took a lot of shots today.” SJSU head coach Sonia Curvelo said. “So, I think that helped our confidence in wanting to go to goal.”
During the 31st minute SJSU had their first yellow card for midfielder Joliye Brass for dissent, disagreement with the referee’s decision.
The Spartans defense stepped up and put pressure on the Aggies offense.
However, before halftime the Aggies defender Summer Humphreys scored top left of the goal with an assist by midfielder Viet-Thy Tran tying the game, 1-1.
During the second half, the Aggies defense maintained possession, preventing the Spartans offense from creating momentum.
UC Davis got their first yellow card against Sydney Bushman, who was booked for dissent.
The Spartans defense stayed strong, preventing the opportunities the Aggies offense were creating.
Which led to two back-to-back fouls on UC Davis allowing SJSU two free kicks which almost led to a goal by forward Daisy Torres.
With just under four minutes left, a foul on the Aggies led to the Spartans scoring via defender Charlotte Memoly, to the bottom right of goal off with her left foot.
Overall, Spartans had 15 fouls while Aggies had 16.
“I thought we moved the ball really well, and we connected a lot of passes. We looked for spaces to run into and find our feet.” Curvelo said.
San Jose State faces Saint Mary’s at 5 p.m on Thursday in Moraga, Calif.
