BURNABY, B.C. – They're in!
Simon Fraser is headed to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championships after a most dramatic 1-0 double overtime Senior Day win over visiting Western Oregon in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon.
With snow falling on the cold, exhausted players from both sides, sophomore forward
Giuliana Zaurrini scored on a penalty kick in the 105th minute with a low shot inside the left goal post to give SFU the triumph. It was Zaurrini's 12th shot – and seventh on net – in the game, by far the most of any player on Saturday.
Coming into Saturday's contest, there was only one berth to the GNAC tournament that had not been determined. SFU, in fourth place in the league standings, held that last spot, but was ahead of Western Oregon by just a single point. Montana State Billings was another point back. The winner of the SFU-WOU match would clinch a place at the conference championships next week in Bellingham, Wash.
Gallery: (11-6-2021) SFU Women's Soccer Senior Day 2021
"I'm a little overwhelmed," said SFU head coach
Annie Hamel. "I think we took the hardest route possible to get here, and it ended up being a day that had so much on the line. It's Senior Day, which is charged with emotion to begin with, and we're playing the team that's trailing us. Whoever wins takes it all. We talked about the professionalism the game would require. The emotions are high but can we put on a good performance? I think the girls did that for the most part.
The weather conditions were horrendous, to be honest, so it kind of took away our ability to play our style. We had to adjust, and we did that well. Also, it was not a day where you could make substitutions so we needed to go out there with who was out there, and who was warm and ready to play under the conditions and with the emotions and the rest of it. I think we did a great job of that."
Sophomore midfielder
Kiara Buono earned the penalty kick when she got to the end of a 25-yard through ball from Zaurrini and was knocked down inside the area by a WOU defender.
"Kiara earned the penalty by being confident and going to goal," said Hamel. "I can't say enough about Giuliana. I've been grooming her for these moments since we played club together, and I had no doubt she would put the ball in the back of the net."
The successful spot kick set off a happy celebration both in the stands and on the field. Emotions were already high before the game, as the SFU program honoured its five senior players:
Gabrielle Brissette,
Paige Gingras,
Kayla Goncalves,
Emma Lobo, and
Danae Robillard. Zaurrini's kick made Saturday an even more special sendoff for the seniors.
"It was just awesome scoring for our seniors and it's wonderful to play at least one more time with them," said Zaurrini.
Hamel said she was very pleased for the women who will join the ranks of the program's distinguished alumni at the end of the season.
"I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart," she remarked. "They've had a fractured career with COVID and a year was taken from them but they're definitely making the most of the season, and we wanted it to keep going for at least another week, which we've earned. I'm so glad we were able to do that for them today. I love them."
Photo by Wilson Wong
SFU came out determined to keep its season alive, firing six shots towards the WOU net in the opening seven minutes, and earning two corners. One of those shots was a Zaurrini header off the goal post in the third minute.
The hosts outshot WOU 13-7 in the first half, but the Wolves had good chances to score themselves. Piper Matson hit the goal post with a ball from the top of the box about eight and a half minutes before halftime. Jenna Efraimson got to the rebound but her effort was turned away in miraculous fashion by
Nicole Anderson. The SFU goalkeeper was on the ground after trying to stop the original chance, and recovered just in time to get her left hand on the rebound.
SFU continued to press for the winning goal and had the run of play in the second half. In the 64th minute, freshman defender
Katie Richardson hit the crossbar with a shot from the top right corner of the 18-yard box.
Giuliana Zaurrini. Photo by Wilson Wong
For the match, SFU outshot WOU 25-13, and had a 12-6 edge in shots on goal. The Wolves had the only shot of the first overtime, and the hosts had the only three of the second OT period. Both goalkeepers – SFU's Anderson, and Olivia Holdenreid of WOU – were excellent. Anderson made six stops for her third win of the season, all of which have also been shutouts. Holdenreid stopped 11 shots.
SFU will face top seed Seattle Pacific in a GNAC semifinal on Thursday in Bellingham, Wash. The winner will advance to the championship match, scheduled for Saturday at Western Washington's Harrington Field. It will be SFU's first appearance at the GNAC Women's Soccer Championships since 2018.
Follow women's soccer on Twitter and Instagram at @sfuwsoc. Fans can also keep up with all of SFU Athletics on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @SFU_Athletics.
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