By Austin Turner – Staff Writer
After dominating possession and playing lights-out defense for almost the entirety of its second conference bout against Air Force (1-3-4, 0-1-1 MWC), San Jose State women’s soccer (3-4-2, 2-0-0 MWC) was still searching for a goal heading into the final minutes.
In the 87th minute, after 15 shots to no avail, the Spartans turned to 2017’s leading goal scorer, junior forward Jamilecxth Becerra.
She fired a laser from the penalty arc, hitting the bottom of the crossbar and landing just over the line to give SJSU its go-ahead score.
“We had so many chances and I knew it was coming,” Becerra said. “To be the person to actually finish it off for the team feels great.”
The Spartan attack was fierce, especially in the final 45 minutes. They took 13 shots in the second half alone and had eight corner kicks in the match, with none resulting in goals.
The frustrating lack of goals for the Spartan offense was thanks to Air Force senior goalkeeper Jennifer Hiddink, who had a fantastic performance in front of the net.
The 2017 First Team All-Mountain West goalkeeper was credited with four saves, and was disrupting every SJSU attack that she could until Becerra’s 87th minute strike flew just over her head.
Complementing the Spartans’ domination of possession was their impenetrable defense.
Senior goalkeeper Paige Simoneau only needed to make two saves to preserve a clean sheet and led the Spartans to their third shutout victory of the season.
“Defense was a team effort today,” said head coach Lauren Hanson. “I thought from the top down we did a great job and had great urgency to get tight and defend. Our back line was just fantastic.”
After a shaky start to the season, the 1-0 victory for the Spartans gives them a 2-0 start in MW conference play. They also defeated Colorado College 1-0 last Friday.
“We all brought out that same energy from Friday night,” said junior midfielder Gabriela Herrera. “Going into this game, we knew we wanted to go 2-0 in conference. That was big for us and I think we just all wanted to showcase what we were capable of.”
The Spartans look to stay undefeated in conference play this Friday against San Diego State (3-6-1).
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