Nov. 9, 2007
FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton senior Kristen Boujos scored the "golden goal" game-winner in the 105th minute on Friday night to lift the host and top-seeded Titans to a 2-1 double overtime victory over UC Irvine in the second semifinal match of the 2007 Big West Conference Women's Soccer Tournament at Titan Stadium.
Fullerton improved to 12-7-1 overall and will advance to meet third-seeded Cal Poly in a rematch of last year's championship game won by the Titans, 2-1. UC Irvine fell to 11-7-2 overall with the loss.
For Boujos, it was only her second goal of the year, but both have come in overtime as game-winning goals. Her first goal this season also came in double overtime, beating then-No. 10 ranked California with her strike in the 103rd minute.
The Titans, who outshot the Anteaters 5-0 in overtime and 19-6 overall, led the charge downfield and forced a corner kick after a shot by Casey Schostag was tipped out of bounds. Schostag then sent the corner in where is hit Lauren Cram in the box, flipping into the air where it was headed down by Jenae Gibbens.
Nicole Scheid then gathered the ball in traffic and unleashed a shot that was defelected by an Anteater defender to Boujos, who found herself with the ball wide open on the left post and she fired it home to clinch the victory.
Overtime was set up by some last-minute heroics by senior Brianna Buffington, who tied the match at 1-1 with just under four minutes to play. Buffington was the recipient of a well-timed pass by teammate Jenae Gibbens, at the top of the box.
Buffington, who had a chance for the game-winning with four minutes left in the first overtime with her shot narrowly missing the left post, then settled the ball with a defender on her back and beat the Anteater goalkeeper to the lower right corner for the tying score.
After a scoreless first period, UC Irvine broke the scoreless tie in the 80th minute as Nikki Forrest gathered a ball and pushed a shot through a traffic jam in the box past the Titan keeper for the 1-0 advantage.
Cal State Fullerton was the clear aggressor in the opening half, outshooting UC Irvine by an 8-1 count, but was unable to convert on any of its chances. A quartet of Titans finished with three shots on the night while Kim Horn had a pair to lead the Anteaters.
In net, UCI's Danielle de Seriere had a busy night, making seven saves on the night while Fullerton's Shayla Sabin made two saves in the win.