FRESNO, Calif. – For the first time in its history, the Fresno State women's soccer team opened the season with a draw. Scoreless the majority of the match, two goals in less than a minute in the second half resulted in a 1-1 draw between the Bulldogs and visiting Cal Poly on Thursday night at Bulldog Soccer Stadium.
Earning her first start in her first career game with the 'Dogs, Lizbeth "Yaya" De Loera scored the equalizer in the 76th minute.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a steady wave of possession early from Cal Poly, a warning shot for Fresno State came in the 20th minute. The result was the Bulldogs coming up with three shots in the span of a minute in the 23rd. In the middle of the flurry was a 12-yard shot from Ciara Wilson, with defenders surrounding her, that had caught the Cal Poly keeper but skipped just wide of the post.
A yellow card on Cal Poly's Brennan Cole in the 70th minute at midfield for tugging on the jersey of Bailee Beach in transition was what the match needed to open up. A shot from the Mustangs, and three from the 'Dogs came, in the next two minutes. The second two coming from Wilson, forced a stop by Mackenzie Samuel, and the Bulldog's rebound was just wide of the left post.
Jessie Halladay broke the deadlock in the 75th minute for the visitors. Their advantage didn't last long, though, as 49 seconds later, the Bulldogs found their goal through De Loera, one of their newest members. A diagonal ball played into the penalty spot from Laura Mas created a mess in front of Samuel. Bailee Beach had a beat on the ball but was screened away at the last second by a Mustang defender leaving the ball to fall into the path of De Loera who poked it past the Cal Poly keeper.
The 'Dogs continued knocking on the door. De Loera just missed wide of the right post in the 84th. Then Wilson saw a low shot attempt in the 87th pushed just outside the left post. It left the two sides all square after 90 minutes.
SCORING SUMMARY
74:20 – CP – Jessie Halladay (Emily Lieber)
75:09 – FS – Lizbeth "Yaya" De Loera (Laura Mas)
NOTES
For the first time in program history, Fresno State earned a draw to open a season.
The Bulldogs outshot the Cal Poly 11-6, with eight of their attempts coming in the second half.
Lizbeth "Yaya" De Loera netted her first goal as a Bulldog.
Laura Mas earned her first career assist.
Ciara Wilson totaled a match-high five shots.
De Loera, Averee Campos, Zoe Chung and Katie Morris each earned the first start of their careers.
Morris was the lone freshman to start on opening night, slotting in at right back.
Fresno State's back line of Morris, Campos, Julia Hardwick and Jordan Lau played the full 90 minutes together.
UP NEXT
Fresno State will play its only road game of August on Sunday, traveling down the 99 to CSU Bakersfield. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. PT and will stream on ESPN+.