• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

CARSON, Calif. – Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team and focus on the next game.

Makenzie Pedrotti headed in a 60th-minute cross for the first goal this season against Seattle Pacific goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson, starting Cal State Dominguez Hills on its way to a 2-0 upset of the fourth-ranked Falcons on Saturday in a non-conference women's soccer game at Toro Stadium.

SPU (14-2) lost to a non-league opponent for the first time since the 2007 NCAA semifinals, a span of 20 games during which the Falcons compiled a 19-0-1 record. The Toros (11-7) stopped a five-game losing streak in the series with their first win over SPU since 2003.

Falcons coach Chuck Sekyra complimented the Toros on an outstanding performance.

“Give Dominguez all the credit, they came out and played very hard for 90 minutes. It was a tough night and there are some things we can take from it. We had our chances and didn't finish, but we can learn from this and bounce back.”

Jessica Murphy set up the first goal with a cross from the left flank. Pedrotti directed a diving header into the side netting at 59:05 that caught Dickinson (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview HS) going the other way.

That was the first ball to get past the SPU junior in 1,012-minutes, 12-seconds, dating to the 2008 national semifinals. Dickinson had not surrendered a goal during this season's first 869 minutes.

“They scored a great goal. We came back and there just seemed to be a total lid on the net. I couldn't believe how many sitters we missed and we hit the post,” said Sekyra. “Then they finished it off when we pushed some players forward at the end.”

The Toros got a late insurance goal when Britney Vance beat two defenders and lofted a shot over Dickinson that carried just inside the far post at 86:33.

Goalkeeper Alyssa Congdon preserved the shutout, her ninth, with eight saves. Dominguez is the first team this season to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard. SPU was blanked for the first time in 33 games, since a 1-0 loss at Western Washington on Sept. 20, 2008.

Congdon made two outstanding plays in the 80th minute, pinning the ball against the crossbar and then saving a close-range shot by SPU sophomore Savanna Hanson (Centennial, Colo.) after that ball dropped in front of the goalmouth.

Dickinson was credited with seven saves for SPU, which was outshot for the first time this season, 17-15.

The Falcons nearly went ahead in the first half, but Brandi Hamre's 38th-minute shot into the goal was disallowed by an offside call.

Senior Jocelyn Charette (Lakewood, Wash./Curtis HS) led the SPU attack with four shots, three of directly on frame. She was scoreless after amassing six goals in the previous three games, including a hat trick against Montana State Billings in the last outing.

The SPU women currently reside in second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 7-1-0 record. They are one point behind Western Washington (7-1-1) with one game in hand.

The reigning NCAA Division II national champion Falcons and the defending GNAC titlist WWU square off on Wednesday, Oct. 28 in a 7 p.m. game at Interbay Stadium.

Sekyra doesn't expect his Falcons to have a hard time recovering from Saturday's setback, especially with such a significant conference game four days away.

“It shouldn't be difficult at all. It's a great opportunity to turn things around right away, that's how I look at it.”


NCAA Women's Soccer
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Toro Stadium/Carson, Calif.

Cal State Dominguez Hills 2, (#4) Seattle Pacific 0

Scoring -- 1, CSUDH, Makenzie Pedrotti (Jessica Murphy, Brooke Thompson), 59:05. 2, CSUDH, Britney Vance (Colleen McNamee), 86:33.

Shots – SPU 15, CSUDH 17.
Saves –SPU 7 (Maddie Dickinson), CSUDH 8 (Alyssa Condgon).
Corner kicks -- SPU 6, CSUDH 6.
Fouls -- SPU 9, CSUDH 11.
Offsides – SPU 3, CSUDH 1.
Attendance -- 187.

Records --
Seattle Pacific 14-2-0
Cal State Dominguez Hills 11-7-0

Next game –
Western Washington at (#4) Seattle Pacific
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m., Interbay Stadium