SAN FRANCISCO — At the beginning of the season, the San Francisco State women's soccer team was picked to finish last in the CCAA in the preseason coaches poll. Instead, the Gators were playing for the CCAA Championship on the last day of the regular season. Ultimately, Sonoma State took the title with a 3-1 decision. Still, the Gators have earned the No. 4 seed in the 2021 CCAA Women's Soccer Tournament and will host a first-round contest on Sunday, November 7 at noon.
- The Gators wrap up the regular season with an 8-8-2 overall record and a 6-3-2 CCAA mark. The Seawolves move to 13-4 overall while their 8-3 conference mark gave them 24 points, edging Chico State with 22. The Gators tied with Cal State East Bay with 20 points apiece but the Pioneers held the head-to-head tiebreaker.
- The Seawolves dominated with a 15-3 shot advantage, including 12-2 shots on goal. The dozen shots matched a season-high allowed by the Gators.
- SSU also held a 7-1 corner kick advantage.
- SF State seniors Daesha Harper, Sommer Harrington, Ileana Mercado, Nathalie Munguia, Obioma Onejeme, and Glory Smith were honored in a pregame ceremony.
Sonoma State got on the scoreboard first in the 26th minute when Harper was whistled for a handball in the box. Julia Pritchard went right with her PK for the score.
Alexa Avelar subbed in at the 42nd minute and her fresh legs paid off. Despite time winding down in the first half, the freshman made the most of her time and evened the match with her third goal of the season with less than a minute remaining in the half when she finished the ball from
AJ Tanner.
The Gators, reenergized headed into halftime, saw the wind taken out of their sails nearly as quickly when the Seawolves struck out of the gate in the 46th minute. Julia Betti's goal was the game-winner and in the 50th minute, SSU added an insurance goal from Victoria Chavez.
Marcella Salyer recorded a new season-high with nine saves. Emily Masursky made one save to pick up the win for the Seawolves.
"Amazing effort today on Senior Day, the ball didn't go our way a few times," said Head Coach
John DeMartini. " Now the next phase of our season starts, which is an awesome experience in itself. We get to host a playoff game at our place and we'll be ready to fight, battle, and compete like we have all year."
The Gators host Cal State LA on Sunday, October 7 in the first round of the 2021 CCAA Women's Soccer Tournament, a six-team single-elimination event. The winners of the first-round matches will face the top two seeds at Kellogg Stadium at Cal Poly Pomona, in the semifinal round, on Friday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. The Championship match will be played on Sunday, Nov.14. Sunday's first-round match kicks off at noon and will be broadcast live on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_wsoc.
