Fresno City Heads To Soccer State

BY ANTHONY GALAVIZ, Fresno Bee

Fresno City College sophomore midfielder Vanessa Penuna had just jogged into her team's huddle to start the second half of Saturday's Northern California Regional match when coach Oliver Germond leaned over her shoulder to deliver a message.

"He was like, 'Put this game on your shoulders,' " the ex-Clovis East High standout recounted.

And she did.

Rianna Chavez got it started with a 43rd-minute goal and Penuna iced it with two in the second half to help North top-seeded Fresno City to a 3-0 victory over No. 5 Sierra (14-7-3), sending the Rams to the state final four next weekend at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

"I felt a lot of pressure there but I was like, this is my team and I want this so bad. I want to carry my team to the final four. I liked that he said that because he can rely on me and has faith in me. I can do it and it was a good feeling," Penuna said.

Fresno City (22-0-2) on Friday will face defending state champion and South No. 2 Cerritos, which rolled through two early-round matches before escaping 2-1 over No. 6 Cypress in its regional semifinal. South top-seeded Santiago Canyon will play North No. 11 Cosumnes River (a 1-0 overtime winner over No. 2 Modesto). Both matches will be at 7 p.m.

Germond is taking the program back to the final four for the first time since 2010. The Rams will enter with 18 shutouts, including three straight by the same score over each of their regional opponents.

"To win 3-0 in every round is pretty special," Germond said. "I just feel like we do so many different things well and we're disciplined and the work rate these girls have at practice is the difference."

And he can now finally put in the past a disappointing ending to the 2013 season — an abrupt second-round exit, also as the North's top seed.

"I feel like it added to a lot of stress to try to get back," he said. "When you're a No. 1 seed last year and to get upset in the second round and to be the No. 1 seed again this year was stressful. But this group has been amazing."

Chavez, a sophomore, didn't want any part in having another season cut short. She scored just inside the box to make it 1-0.

"Once we got our first goal, we settled down," Chavez said. "I felt like we went into this game like we did in our past games … a little nervous and tense, but once we get that first goal we're like, 'We got this. We know what we need to do.' "

Germond had a postgame message for the entire team.

"I've been here 14 years and it's hard to get (to the final four) and you should be proud," Germond said. "This is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Even Penuna had her doubts after a 0-0 tie with College of the Canyons in the season opener, but then the Rams quickly built a winning streak that reached seven. Canyons, meanwhile, went on to reach the second round in the South.

"I thought it was going to be a long season," Penuna said. "But after those (first two) consecutive wins, battling, and our practices being so great, I realized that our team was unbelievable and we can do so much more than we can ever imagine."