Reporter
CSU Bakersfield women’s soccer team had a game for the record books as it beat Chicago State University on Oct 11 in a 9-1 victory at the Main Soccer Field.
“I credit the girls preparation, and I credit their mindset and how they were going to approach this,” said CSUB coach Gary Curneen. “It’s really exciting. Aminah (Settles) has been phenomenal for us this year, and she has scored a lot of goals. Haley (Vicente) was playing more of her natural position today, which was right through the middle, so she has given us something to think about.”
Redshirt-freshman forward Settles and freshman forward Vicente both helped the Roadrunners get their third conference win (5-6-2, 3-1-1 Western Athletic Conference) with Settles being the fifth CSUB player in NCAA Division I history to score a hat trick.
Vicente added four goals of her own, which is the first time someone has done that since the program has moved into Division I in 2007. She also tied the CSUB all-time record for most goals in a game.
“I thought we had a great performance,” said Vicente. “I thought we finished all of our opportunities and played well as a team and possessed the ball really well.”
Vicente also said she felt good about her performance, and that she likes scoring goals.
“I think we did well, we definitely outplayed them,” said red-shirt senior goalkeeper Tori Ornela. “There was (a couple of) times where we kind of lacked the mental side to stay in it, but after that, I think just the way we were able to pass the ball and move the ball was definitely a win for us.”
Chicago State’s midfielder freshman Amber Jones got her team a consolation goal in the 55th minute, but it was already too late as the margin was too big for Chicago to make a comeback at that point.
“If we’re going to look at something that was a real positive today, it was our preparation coming off a tough defeat,” said Curneen.
He also said that the team’s ability to keep its composure after getting out to a big lead isn’t done by command, a team either has composure to stay in the game or it doesn’t.
The Roadrunners will play at Seattle University on Oct. 16 as they look to get their fourth conference win.
