The San Jose State women’s soccer team continues to make history in its 2022 season campaign.
The No. 3 Spartans were crowned Mountain West Conference (MWC) tournament champions after defeating No. 1 Wyoming on Saturday night at the University of New Mexico Soccer Complex.
The contest ended in a 0-0 score that ended 6-5 on penalty kicks in favor of the Spartans.
“To come away and not get a bye and play three games in altitude, it just speaks volumes to this team’s grit,” head coach Tina Estrada said. “I’m so proud of them. They stuck through it. They stayed together. They believed.”
Senior midfielder Sabrina Weinman said the win was long deserved for the team.
“We didn’t start preseason the way we wanted to, so the fact that we ended the season altogether winning, it felt so good as a team,” Weinman said.
The result was a contrast from last year.
“We just battled until the last minute and I’m just so thankful to have such an amazing team,” senior defender Jada Wilson said.
Wilson is the reigning MWC Defensive Player of the Year and finishes her SJSU career the same way she started– a champion.
The team last won the MWC Tournament in 2018, when Wilson was a freshman.
The game was scoreless, but the Spartans outshot Wyoming 18-14 with sophomore forward Bella Flocchini leading with five.
Senior midfielder Kiana Miyazato, sophomore midfielder Taylor Phillips and Wilson were named to the all-MWC tournament team.
Freshman goalkeeper Bente Pernot was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The Netherlands native made four saves while also being the first freshman to be named the tournament MVP since 2015, also the same year the Spartans brought hardware to San Jose.
“Being named MVP of the tournament as a freshman still feels unreal,” Pernot said. “Any award I get is also the team’s award. I would not have been able to keep three shutouts without Jada and Kiana being there or the entire team for that matter.”
The championship is the third in the women’s soccer program, previously being crowned in 2015 and 2018.
However, SJSU’s season is not over.
The win punches the Spartans a ticket to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament.
The tournament bid marks the third appearance in program history.
SJSU is the lone MWC representative in the NCAA Tournament and is the 14th seed in its bracket.
Monday’s selection show, which was held in the Gold Room at South Campus, announced the Spartans next matchup against Bay Area rival Stanford University, which is the third seed in the bracket.
The Spartans will be the underdogs heading into their game on Friday and will try to play spoiler to Stanford.
Pernot said the team will go into that game with an underdog mentality– no different from the rest of their games this year.
Wilson said she looks forward to the challenge and is excited about the opportunity to play against one of the country’s best collegiate soccer teams.
“We have nothing to lose and I hope everybody just goes out there and plays 100%, all effort,” Weinman said.
The Bay Area clash between SJSU and Stanford is scheduled to take place in Palo Alto on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
