The Cal State Stanislaus women's soccer team dropped a heartbreaker in the final seconds of the conference match against Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday.
As the final seconds of regulation play ticked away, a Cal Poly Pomona corner kick turned into a mad scramble in front of the net. In the end, Samantha Stiles tabbed in the winner with six seconds left to play to shock the sixth ranked Warriors, 3-2.
Cal State Stanislaus snapped its winning streak at a program-best 10 matches and lost for just the second time this season at 12-2 overall and 8-2 the California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
Cal Poly Pomona, one of the hottest teams in recent weeks in the CCAA South, stole the win to improve to 7-4-2, 5-4-2 CCAA. The Broncos are now undefeated in their last seven matches (5-0-2) since starting the CCAA season 0-4.
"Give Cal Poly Pomona a lot of credit. They came out with a lot of intensity and really played well," CSUS head coach Gabriel Bolton said. "I was proud of the way we competed and kept bouncing back despite not playing our best soccer in the first half."
Like everyone else's game plan, the Broncos kept two-time All-American forward Karenee Demery from getting many chances as they swarmed the defensive unit around her. Demery, who did manage a few runs, had one shot on goal.
After Pomona took a 1-0 lead at 23:39, the Warriors bounced right back with the equalizer in the 38th minute on a Karli Nestler header from a Jordan Moineau corner kick from the near side.
Just before the intermission, Cal Poly Pomona made it 2-1 on a Kaelyn Kaichi score at 42:44. But, in the 44th minute, Apryl Whitney scored on a diving header from an Emily Relles free kick in front of the Warrior bench. Relles was credited with her CCAA-leading 10th assist.
"We played much better in the second half and really created a lot of chances. Unfortunately they scored against the run of the play," Bolton said.
The 2-2 score held up until the final seconds of the match. On a corner kick awarded inside the 30 second mark, the Broncos took their time setting up the set-play. Cindy Paez sent in a low bouncer into the far post box where a few players from both sides converged to create the final goal.
The turn of events was unfortunate for Cal State Stanislaus since it was attacked at a rapid pace just before that final sequence. A number of chances, including a Moineau shot that hit post in the 84th minute and a Tina Benson try in the 88th minute, didn't go the Warriors' way.
"It was an exciting match, we just came out on the wrong end," added Bolton.