Nov. 9, 2008
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PULLMAN, Wash. - Junior Elysse Van Leer tapped in a rebound in the third minute of the second overtime to give No. 24 Washington State a 1-0 Pacific-10 women's soccer victory over visiting Arizona State, Sunday at Lower Soccer Field.
Carly Dobratz fed fellow-junior Kiersten Dallstream and the latter fired a shot at the far post. Arizona State (8-8-4, 2-6-1 Pac-10) goalkeeper Briana Silverstri made the save, but could not control the rebound. As the ball trickled toward the goalline, Van Leer outran a Sun Devils' defender and put home the game-winner at 102:56.
The goal was Van Leer's team-leading seventh of the season. It was her fourth game-winner, tying her for fourth on the Washington State (10-5-5, 4-3-2 Pac-10) single-season list. The tally capped a match played in persistant fog and mist.
"I could not be more proud of our team," Cougar Head Coach Matt Potter said. "We fought hard all weekend and came up with another great defensive effort against a good Arizona State team."
With the victory, the Cougars recorded their ninth shutout of the season, one shy of the school record (1994, 2006) and earned a fifth place finish in the conference. WSU has not given up a goal in the last 326:14.
Washington State had a couple of chances in the first half, but freshman Ali Fenter was denied in the 28th minute by Silverstri and Dobratz's shot was just wide left in the 43rd minute.
Kari Shane made a bid to put the Sun Devils' on the board in the last 30 seconds of the half, but came up empty when WSU sophomore goalkeeper Lindsay Parlee made a spectacular save.
In the second half, both teams save their best scoring chances for the latter stages of the stanza. Dobratz fed Van Leer with a header in the 80th minute and Van Leer's shot was just wide of the far post. About a minute later, Karin Volpe of Arizona State blasted a shot toward the far post and was turned away on a diving save by Parlee.
In the 84th minute, Dobratz had a chance to be the hero only to be stopped by a sliding Silvestri on the goal line at the near post.
The Cougars outshot the Sun Devils 16-11 and held an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks. The victory was the first in seven tries for WSU against Arizona State at home and broke a six-match losing streak overall to the Sun Devils. The Cougars finished 7-1-1 at home, their best mark in Pullman since 1994 (7-1-0).
Washington State will find out Monday at 5 p.m. if it has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.
