The San Jose State women’s soccer team’s 2-0 win against the University of Nevada Sunday marked head coach Lauren Hanson’s 54th win in her six years coaching the team, a new record.
Surpassing previous head coach Philippe Blin’s record of 53 wins, Hanson moved on top of the list of all-time wins list in program history.
The Spartans are now 5-7-4 in the regular season and 3-3-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
“Looking back over the last six years, its been really a fun journey and I think that’s what I’m most proud of, is building this culture,” Hanson said. “If you want to build something you have to be consistent, your staff has to be consistent and you have to stay somewhere.”
Hanson’s time coaching the women’s soccer team has been the first head coaching position of her career and she said the program and the city of San Jose holds a special place in her heart.
Junior defender Karlee Pottorff, who is also one of the team’s captains, said the game meant a lot to her and the team for being able to secure the win and for pushing coach Hanson to take the record for most wins in the program as a coach.
Pottorff recalled the time when she was going into her sophomore year when she said Hanson was given the opportunity to coach somewhere else.
“She chose us and to stay in San Jose and that meant the world to us at that moment,” Pottorff said.
She said Hanson was the one who originally convinced her to join the program.
“It’s not about the name of the school. It’s the program, the culture,” Pottorff said. “That’s established by the head coach.”
Pottorff said with today’s win, it just makes the fact that she joined the program that much more special.
“Any coach can tell you what you want to hear, but it’s when they have the heart and the passion that’s what pulls you in and that’s what makes wins like this so special,” Pottorff said.
The team started the game strong, pressuring Wolf Pack players into passing the ball inaccurately and capitalizing on those mistakes by stealing the ball for the counterattack.
“We definitely had the pressure on them in the first half,” Pottorff said.
From there, it was a purely aggressive, all-out attack from the Spartans. After the first and only shot by the Wolf Pack offense in the first five minutes, the Spartans took a total of 16 shots in the first half.
“Once you set your standard of aggression, high intensity and momentum that’s how our team rolls with it,” Pottorff said.
After that, it didn’t take long for senior defender Kristen Amarikwa, to put the Spartans on the board first as she headed in freshman midfielder Sabrina Weinman’s corner kick in the 28th minute.
Amarikwa, who moved from the back line to striker in the last three games, capitalized on a messy goal box formation from Nevada and an injured Wolf Pack goalkeeper.
Wolf Pack sophomore goalkeeper Kendal Stovall’s head injury during Amarikwa’s goal shifted the momentum even more as freshman goalkeeper Hannah Roberts stepped in her place.
The Spartan offense held nothing back and 2 minutes after getting subbed in, Roberts faced a Spartan free kick right outside the goal box.
SJSU had drawn a foul just north of the penalty box and Weinman lined up to take the free kick.
The freshman’s kick flew just over the barrier and into Roberts hands as she leapt up high to stop the goal. But she was unable to grab the ball as it slipped past her for the score.
The goal was Weinman’s team-leading fourth of the year and with the assist, she also has a team-best 10 points.
After halftime, Wolf Pack players began maintaining possession of the ball rather than letting SJSU’s high pressuring midfielders dominate on counter attacks and passing plays.
Pottorff said the team adapted to the adjustment and the Spartans played more conservatively in their attack and looked for forward passing plays to find gaps in the Wolf Pack defense.
“They want to find our strengths and make that our weakness, but we’re just going to find new strengths,” she said.
Pottorff said as a team, one of the challenges of moving forward is grinding out the season.
“Setting your priorities and tending to those is definitely what we focus on during this time,” said Pottorff.
The Spartans ended the game with 18 shots in total, while Nevada had 5.
For SJSU sophomore goalkeeper Ariana Romero, she had a light game with one save while Nevada had eight saves, four from each goalkeeper.
The win gave the Spartans three points in the conference and with 11 on the season, the Spartans are currently in seventh place in the Mountain West standings.
The top six teams at the end of the season will qualify for the 2019 Mountain West Tournament Championship.
The Spartans play the University of New Mexico on Friday, followed by a Sunday game at San Diego State.
