Box Score Box score
Seattle, WA – Host and 2nd-ranked Seattle Pacific showed why they're amongst the best in the nation by handing Cal State Dominguez Hills a 3-0 NCAA second round defeat at Interbay Stadium Saturday afternoon, ending the 2007 Toros season at 14-5-4.
The Toros had difficulty connecting against the stingy SPU defense in the first half, failing to get a shot off in the first 45 minutes of play. The Falcons, on the other hand, used the combination they've employed all year to notch their first goal of the game early as Sarah Martinez took a feed from Meredith Teague down the right side, and slipped her shot past CSUDH keeper Alyssa Congdon for a 1-0 lead at the 4:06 mark.
SPU doubled its lead late in the first half as an attempted clear on a SPU corner kick was punched directly to Amanda Johnson, who knocked in the 5-yard gimme at 38:49, giving the top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Falcons a 2-nil cushion heading into the break.
The hosts had a great chance to take a 3-0 lead just minutes into the second half as Jocelyn Charette found herself alone with Congdon from 7 yards out, but misfired her blast high to keep CSUDH within striking distance.
That misfire proved a formality just six minutes later, however, as Meredith Teague took a feed from Sarah Martinez and found Charette in the middle of the Toro zone, and Charette completed the sequence with a far post header for a 3-0 lead, all but closing the door on the Toros' 2007 season.
"Seattle Pacific is a very thorough, effective and efficient team," begins head coach Joe Flanagan. "We spotted them a couple soft goals early but they definitely had the better play. We played hard and with a lot of energy but just had a couple of mistakes, and they buried us on those couple of mistakes early."
Seattle Pacific, which remained undefeated and now stands at 21-0, dominated in nearly every category in the win, tallying an 18-0 edge in shots and 10-3 advantage in corner kicks, while Congdon finished with 8 saves in the loss, including consecutive saves on Teague at point-blank range late in the second half.
With the loss, CSUDH bade farewell to nine seniors playing in their final game, including four-year seniors in Corrie Hirokawa, Jennifer Jimenez, Amy Livergood, Sandy Lloyd and Fawna Waldo, who helped lead the 2004 team to the CCAA Championship as freshmen.
"Obviously it's disappointing, but they played a hard game and went out on a high note by playing well," Flanagan says about his five four-year seniors as well as the senior class. "But they've had a great run, making the playoffs 3 of the past 4 years and getting that conference championship as freshmen. It's a class we're going to try to have to mirror in the future to hopefully get that talent year in and year out."
Next year, CSUDH will return 7 seniors, 2 juniors and 6 sophomores to the 2008 team, including the CCAA Newcomer of the Year and 1st-team All-CCAA honors in Yvonne Vasquez and its 3rd-team All-CCAA keeper in Congdon.
