Local colleges: Draw snaps Fresno City women’s winning run at home

Fresno City College’s women’s soccer team was where it wanted to be, atop the national rankings and embarking on a five-game run at home – where winning was becoming a way of life.

But it came unraveled just a bit Tuesday, a 12-game winning streak at home that dated to last season halted by a 1-1 draw with Los Angeles Pierce.

The Rams (5-0-3) took the lead on Leila Monzon’s goal in the 68th minute – her second of the season – but saw Claudia Perez net the equalizer in the 78th for the Brahmas (3-0-3). Fresno is No. 3 in the updated state power rankings and Pierce No. 12.

Earlier Tuesday, Fresno City remained ranked No. 1 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III poll .

Fresno City hosts Bakersfield (2-2-1) at 4 p.m. Friday, then Feather River (2-3) on Tuesday, also at 4 p.m. Bakersfield is hot off a 5-1 win at West Hills-Lemoore that was highlighted by Sabrina Spink’s four goals.

▪ Fresno City’s men’s soccer team (4-3-3) opens the Central Valley Conference portion of its season at 4 p.m. Friday when West Hills-Lemoore (6-3) visits Ratcliffe Stadium. The Rams are coming off a 2-2 draw at Los Angeles Valley; West Hills beat Gavilan 3-1 on the road Tuesday. The Golden Eagles are led by Brazilian freshman Mateus Arantes, who has five goals and two assists.

▪ The Rams’ volleyball team swept Merced 25-10, 25-5, 25-14 in a Central Valley Conference opener Wednesday. Niyesha Brown had seven kills. Jenna Goldsberry, Malerie Crenshaw and Sydney Molander had six each. The state No. 6-ranked Rams are 5-2 overall heading into matches against No. 17 Delta and No. 18 Sierra on Saturday in Stockton.

▪ Fresno City’s wrestlers will be in the field for the West Hills-Lemoore tournament on Saturday. The 2014 state runner-up Rams won 7 of 10 weight class championships in edging the hosts 146-137 at the Sac City Invitational on Saturday. Jonas Gaytan, Fresno City’s 141-pounder, was named outstanding wrestler. Rams teammate Martine Sandoval (149) had the most falls (three) in the shortest time (6.54).

▪ Reedley was the early leader in the CVC women’s golf title chase, with 18.5 points through five matches, followed by Fresno City (15.5), Cañada 11 and West Hills-Lemoore (5). Round six was scheduled for Thursday at Moffett Field in Mt. View.

Fresno Pacific – Senior midfielder Renato Bustamante was named PacWest soccer Player of the Week after scoring three goals to lead Fresno Pacific to wins over Cal State San Bernardino and Westmont.

The Sunbirds (3-1-1) have won three in a row and begin conference play Sunday at Chaminade. The Fresno Pacific women’s team, in its final pre-conference tuneup, fell 2-0 at Cal State Monterey Bay on Wednesday, dropping to 2-2 under first-year coach Rob Podeyn. “I’m not concerned about our effort, our fitness level or our ability to defend. We’ve just got to keep working on our finishing ability.”

▪ Fresno Pacific opened PacWest play in volleyball on Saturday, snapping a five-match losing streak by defeating Dominican 25-22, 25-12, 24-26, 25-20. Gabriela Macedo recorded 20 kills and 17 digs, Bissie DenHartog dished out 54 assists and Sarah McCann had 12 kills and a team-high 25 digs. The Sunbirds (1-5, 1-0), under the direction of interim coach Matt Terra, a 10-year assistant, were swept by Fresno State in a Tuesday exhibition and face Cal Baptist at 7 p.m. Friday in Riverside.

▪ A 21-9 victory over UC Merced on Wednesday gave the Sunbirds’ men’s water polo team its first victory. Jeff Miller led the way with a game-high five goals. “Offensively we did a great job of spacing and opening up a lot to locate our center. We really focused on movement and the guys did a great job of executing that tonight,” coach Bryan Suhovy said. The Sunbirds (1-3, 0-1) host Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m. Saturday at Sunnyside Aquatics Center in a Western Water Polo Association match.

Fresno State – Peyton Cline’s first career goal with the Bulldogs soccer team was a big one, the decider in a 1-0 win Sept. 13 at Sacramento State that gave the team its first win of the season.

Fresno State (1-6-0) returns to action at 3 p.m. Friday when it kicks off Mountain West play at Colorado State (2-4-1) in Fort Collins, Colo. The Bulldogs visit Wyoming (3-1-3) for a 10 a.m. Sunday match.

The Bulldogs are 2-0 all-time against Colorado State, including 4-2 home victory last season when then-freshman Ashari Hines netted the team’s only hat trick of the season.

Off the field, the team on Wednesday was honored with the national soccer coaches group with a College Team Academic Award after posting a 3.15 team GPA during for the 2014-15 academic year.

▪ Fresno State’s volleyball team is flying high after that 25-19, 25-22, 25-17 win Tuesday over the Sunbirds. Sure, it was just an exhibition, but also just the Bulldogs’ third victory in 10 matches all-time between the schools. Zana Bowen had 10 kills; and Fresno State hit .327 compared to .231 for Fresno Pacific. Mountain West play awaited, with the Bulldogs hosting San Jose State on Thursday night.

▪ Sophomore Joanna Kim fired a 54-hole 3-under total of 213, tied for third-best in school history, in finishing second for the Bulldogs’ women’s golf team at the Washington State Cougar Cup on Tuesday. The team was third behind Washington State and Idaho. “I was thrilled to see Joanna finish second in the field,” coach Emily Milberger-Loftin said. “I’m so proud to see her put three rounds of solid golf together after a summer of so much hard work.” The fall season continues Monday through Tuesday at the Rose City Collegiate, hosted by Portland State.

▪ Trevor Clayton and Alex Lee earned top-10 finishes and the Fresno State men’s golf team placed third at the Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins Country Club. Lee (70-70-71) was seventh and Clayton (73-71-69) 10th on the 7,215-yard, par-70 layout. Third-year head coach Chad Spencer, absent on paternity leave, will return for the second annual Fresno State Nick Watney Invitational on Oct. 5-6 at Fort Washington Country Club.

▪ Luke Shields, who has seven years of coaching experience, including two as associate head coach at his alma mater of Boise State, was named the eighth head coach in the history of the Fresno State men’s tennis program on Thursday. Shields was a three-time collegiate All-American for the Broncos, then assisted the program for two years before one season as the women’s assistant at Marshall and two at Washington.

In addition to earning top-10 rankings nationally in singles and doubles and leading the Broncos to four NCAA tournaments as a player, Shields also was an All-Western Athletic Conference Academic honoree for all four years of his career.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Local colleges: Draw snaps Fresno City women’s winning run at home."