Oct. 20, 2017
Colorado Springs, Colo. --- San JosE State struck for a goal in the third minute and then held on for a 3-2 Mountain West win on the road at Colorado College.
The result for the first-place Spartans (10-5-1, 7-1-1 MW) extends their winning streak to four games and unbeaten streak to five. It also clinches a spot in the Mountain West Championship Tournament. SJSU remains four points ahead of second-place New Mexico and will have a chance to clinch the Mountain West regular season title on Sunday at home.
"I'm super excited and happy about starting fast and scoring early," said Spartans head coach Lauren Hanson. "That's something we haven't done most of this season. We had some really good goals by Didi (Hoppius), Darriell (Franklin) and Jamie (Becerra). They showed great leadership today."
Dorthe Hoppius got things started early for San JosE State with a goal in the third minute. She shot one from the right wing that hit off the bottom of the cross bar and straight down inside the goal line. It was Hoppius' fifth goal of the season and the 23rd of her career putting her alone in third all-time at SJSU.
Hoppius also took over as the new all-time leader for shots in a career, ending with 208. She needed just two shots coming into the match to pass Stacie Savage (1996-97) and finished with seven.
Darriell Franklin scored SJSU's second goal in the 18th minute to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Franklin took what looked like a cross from the left sideline, but in fact it was a shot which bent inside the high right-side post. It was the fourth goal of the year for Franklin and her third in the last two matches.
The two-goal lead wouldn't last long before Colorado College's Catie McDonald made it 2-1 in the 34th minute. McDonald got the ball after a Colorado College throw-in within the attacking third and drilled a shot high and inside the left post.
In the 72nd minute SJSU's Jamilecxth Becerra made it 3-1 Spartans when she cleaned up a loose ball in front of the net and put it past the Tigers keeper. It was Becerra's fifth goal of the season.
It turned out that Becerra's goal wasn't just for good measure, as the Spartans allowed another goal in the 83rd minute which narrowed the lead to 3-2. This time Kelli Sullivan was on cleanup duty in front of the net for Colorado College and found a way to get it past SJSU keeper Paige Simoneau.
Despite a threatening final few minutes by the home team, San JosE State held on for the win to improve to 7-1-1 in Mountain West play.
The Spartans outshot the Tigers 15-10 for the match. Eight shots went on goal for SJSU compared to five for Colorado College. Simoneau finished the match with three saves. Jade Odum made five saves for Colorado College.
The Spartans take on Air Force Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (PT) at the Spartan Soccer Complex. A win for the Spartans would clinch the program's first Mountain West regular-season title and give them the right to host the league championship tournament in 2018.