Sept. 25, 2015
Laramie, Wyo. --- The San Jose State women's soccer team started its Mountain West season with a bang Friday when Darriell Franklin punched in the golden goal in the 96th minute to defeat Wyoming, 1-0.
Franklin took a short touch pass from Dorthe Hoppius near the top left corner of the box and after a few dribbles, brought the Spartans victory with her fourth goal and second game-winner of the season.
"I went around one of their defenders after taking the pass and just shot it low to the post," Franklin said. "Seeing how happy the rest of the team was made it really exciting. This win is a great start to getting where we want to go this season."
Franklin's goal handed Wyoming its first loss at home since October of 2013. It was the first win for SJSU in a conference opener on the road since 2009.
San Jose State (3-2-4, 1-0-0 MW) outshot Wyoming (7-1-3, 0-1-0 MW) 12-7 during a physical 90 minutes of regulation time.
"Today was a phenomenal team effort," said head coach Lauren Hanson. "We had complete focus and did a great job matching their physicality for a full 90 minutes, plus eight."
Zoe Makrigiannis made three clutch saves in the first half to keep the match in a scoreless tie heading into the break. With Friday's shutout, Makrigiannis moves into a tie with Amee Brown (1996-99) for the most career individual shutouts with 14.
San Jose State nearly struck for a first-half goal when Courtney Elterman broke away from the pack of Wyoming defenders, but her shot from the left side blasted just over the crossbar.
Friday's victory was the first in four overtime matches this season for the Spartans.
"We are fit," Hanson said. "We are fit and we were very good with our game management. Knowing when to press and when not to was a big key today."
Franklin's goal makes it a MW-leading 12 consecutive matches with at least one score for SJSU dating back to last season.
"She is a pure goal scorer," Hanson said of Franklin. That's what she has done for us this season and she did it again today."
San Jose State continues Mountain West play Sunday when it travels to Colorado State for a 1:00 p.m., MT start.