Soccer Recap: Bertana lifts Rams to first conference win

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Sept. 28, 2014 Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

By Craig Buchanan

Athletic Media Relations

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Behind the stellar play of junior forward Gianna Bertana, the Colorado State Rams (3-7-0, 1-1-0 MW) picked up a crucial 1-0 Mountain West victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack (3-7-1, 0-2-0 MW).

Bertana scored the match’s lone goal in the 75th minute to guide Colorado State to its third win of the year, surpassing last year’s win total of two. The win is also Colorado State’s second Mountain West win of all-time. CSU also knocked off Nevada last year 1-0 in Reno.

“We needed a win in the worst way,” Head Coach Bill Hempen said. “Getting the three points in conference is huge for us.”

The Rams tallied an 11-7 shot advantage over the Wolf Pack, including 7-5 on goal, but it was the physical play of the match that was the story. Both teams committed 13 fouls in the match, and a total of five cards were issued.

In the first half, both teams played a fairly even scoreless 45 minutes. Colorado State came out aggressive from the opening whistle and was rewarded for its efforts with numerous good scoring chances. Most of the opportunities came courtesy of beautiful balls being delivered into the box from junior defender Jessica Stauffer, but the Rams weren’t able to find the finishing touch to propel them into the lead.

The physical play picked up in the second half, and both teams initially struggled to get themselves into a rhythm. The physical nature of the match reached its pinnacle in the 62nd minute when Nevada’s Mei-Li Madamba was issued her second yellow card of the match, resulting in a red card and forcing Nevada to finish out the contest with 10 players.

With a one-player advantage, Colorado State’s attack intensified, but Nevada’s defense remained strong and refused to relinquish any real scoring opportunities. In the 75th minute, that all changed. After pushing up in the attack, the Wolf Pack left themselves exposed to a counter-attack.

Bertana and freshman midfielder Bri Sweeney linked up as the CSU defense cleared the ball from danger. After receiving a pass from Sweeney that put her into space, Bertana dribbled with pace at the Nevada defenders from midfield. As the Wolf Pack players continued to retreat, Bertana faked to her left and pushed the ball to her right foot, unleashing a line-drive effort from the top of the box that bounced off of the bottom of the crossbar and into the back of the net.

“That was a great individual effort,” Hempen said of Bertana’s game-winning goal. “We’ve been pushing our girls to just go for it, and she did. It was a heck of a shot.”

Bertana now has a team-leading two goals and has also registered an assist, giving her a part in all three of Colorado State’s goals this year.

Just three minutes after the goal, it looked like the Rams were poised to add a second in the 78th minute. Bertana found an overlapping Catherine Ruder with a heel flick to put Ruder behind the defense and one-on-one with the keeper. Ruder beat the keeper to the near post, but her shot careened off of the post and stayed out of the net. 

The Rams held on to the lead for the remaining 12 minutes to clinch the team’s first conference win of the year and seal the team’s third shutout effort. Colorado State continues its conference play next week with a showdown at Boise State on Oct. 3. The match is slated to kick off at 4 p.m. MT and will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network.

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