Oct. 14, 2016
San Jose, Calif. --- The San Jose State women's soccer team overpowered Wyoming in the second half for a comeback 3-1 victory inside CEFCU Stadium.
A quick strike in the second half from Dorthe Hoppius gave the Spartans (7-4-4, 4-2-1 MW) their mojo back, and two goals from Alexis Venegas put the game away.
"We came out a little bit slow in the first half," said San Jose State head coach Lauren Hanson. "Then the challenge to the players was, everyone want the ball. And they truly did all want the ball."
Four different Spartans earned a point in the victory. Darriell Franklin found Hoppius near the top of the box where she shed the defender and fired in the equalizer in the 51st minute. It was Hoppius' fourth goal of the year and the third assist for Franklin.
Later in the 65th minute, Hoppius popped a shot over the head of the charging Wyoming keeper and Venegas beat the defender to the bounding ball and knocked in what became the game-winning goal.
But the team's leading goal scorer wasn't done there. This time Maricruz Chapa dribbled the ball all the way to the goal line, turned around and chipped it up to a streaking Venegas, who knocked it in to make it 3-1 in the 69th minute. Chapa was credited with her third assist of the year on the play.
The game-winner was Venegas' third of the season. She remains the team's leader with six goals and 14 points.
"There were a lot of great moments for a lot of our players in that second half," Hanson said.
Other than Shaina Ashouri's goal in the 33rd minute, Wyoming (7-7-1, 3-4-1 MW) managed just one other shot on goal in the match. Spartans keeper Ana Calero improves to 4-2-1 overall and 3-2-1 in MW play.
San Jose State is back on the pitch Sunday at noon when it hosts Colorado State.