Athlete of the Week: Makamae Gomera-Stevens
After loss against Stanford, WSU beats Cal with overtime goal
Then-sophomore forward Makamae Gomera-Stevens kicks the ball in an attempt to score against GCU during the game on Aug. 19, 2018 at the Lower Soccer Field.
October 8, 2019
Junior forward Makamae Gomera-Stevens brought energy to WSU soccer this week after leading the team to a 1-0 victory against the No. 20 University of California, Berkeley on Sunday. Her performance earned her Evergreen Athlete of the Week.
In an overtime thriller on the road, Gomera-Stevens scored the game-winning goal just over a minute after moving into extra time against the Golden Bears.
This was an important win for the Cougars as they lost 5-0 a match against No. 2 Stanford on Thursday.
No. 14 WSU (9-2, 2-1) sits in third place in the Pac-12, behind Stanford and USC.
In a post-game interview with WSU, head coach Todd Shulenberger said Cal had a great game plan and threw WSU a “curveball” by it.
“We made some changes and adapted well and took the game back into control,” Shulenberger said in the post-game interview with WSU.
In the Pac-12, WSU needs to manage its wins and its losses, Shulenberger said in the post-game interview with WSU.
“What a response after Thursday,” Shulenberger said in the post-game interview with WSU. “Thursday was tough, we got our butts kicked, by not only maybe the best team in America, but just how we lost. We didn’t compete. So, we had to challenge them today to make sure we’re still alive.”
The win was what the team needed after Thursday’s loss, sophomore midfielder Elaily Hernandez-Repreza said in a post-game interview with WSU.
“We dropped our heads down a little bit, but this was exactly what we needed so we can walk out with our heads held high here,” Hernandez-Repreza said in the post-game interview with WSU.
In the second half, Hernandez-Repreza was providing great throw-ins that the team was not capitalizing on until that goal, Gomera-Stevens said in a post-game interview with WSU.
“Even though that unfortunate event happened on Thursday, we came together as a team and knew that we had to play our butts off in this game to get a win,” Gomera-Stevens said in the post-game interview with WSU.
Gomera-Stevens is from Kapolei, Hawaii and studying social sciences.
The Cougars can be seen in action in Pullman next as they continue their Pac-12 play against the Arizona schools. WSU faces the University of Arizona at 7 p.m. on Thursday, followed by Arizona State University at 1 p.m. Sunday.
