On Sunday, Gonzaga University women’s soccer hosted the Fresno State Bulldogs.
The Zags (6-6-2, 1-2-0) defeated the Bulldogs (1-12-2, 0-4-0) in a wipeout 6-0 score.
GU started off the game with a quick attack into the Bulldogs’ territory, striking a cross that turned into a shot but missed wide right in the fifth minute .
This ultimately was the theme for the first 35 minutes of the half. GU had many empty crosses inside that were defended by Fresno State. Goalkeeper Sydney Head made a save after a quick shot by the Bulldogs in the 25th minute.
GU capitalized on a yellow card by Fresno State, which led to a corner kick and eventually the first goal of the game . Assisted by Sofia Fox and Shila Rasoul, Brooke Metcalfe struck the ball past the goalkeeper who had the ball bounce off of her just moments before.
It wasn’t long before the next goal came, shot by Samantha Snorsky which was deflected by the goalkeeper and onto Anna Rydin’s foot for the goal, three minutes after the last goal.
However, that wouldn’t be enough for the Zags, as right after kickoff Sienna Jenson got possession and passed a through-ball to Metcalfe for her second goal in 5 minutes, and GU’s’ third of the half.
“It just kind of shows how hard we’ve been working the last few games, and we were finally able to put it in the back of the net today,” Metcalfe said. “I think being at home especially means a lot to represent this field and this team and I think we can use this momentum to hopefully go and get some more wins in the Pac-12.”
GU carried the momentum into the second half and quickly found themselves on the attack. Rasoul found her second goal with a header after a pass from Summer Chen, making it 4-0.
Their next goal would come in 86th minute from a quick pass by Piper Davidson to Emily Todd to make it 5-0.
Less than a minute later, Davidson tallied a goal on her own and scored a shot from just outside the box to make it 6-0.
“The biggest thing was just trusting our game, after coming off some tough games, the emphasis was just trust our game, trust the process, crash the box, get in there, and make it happen,” said Head Coach Katie Benz. “It was really nice to put the pieces together.”
Benz explained how important it was to have their first Pac-12 win, and for it to happen on this occasion.
“Honestly, just moving forward with the energy that we’re feeling right now, and trusting that we are capable of that on more occasions than we’ve shown,” Benz said.
The GU women’s soccer team will take on Washington State at Luger Field on Saturday. The game stats can be found on GoZags.com and can be streamed on the Pac-12 youtube channel.
Callum Mahoney is a staff writer.