PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State soccer team maintained its perfect season, Sunday afternoon, at Lower Soccer Field, defeating Cal State Fullerton, 2-1, in double-overtime. Senior Kourtney Guetlein scored in the second period of overtime, heading home the game-winning goal past Fullerton's Morgan Bertsch in the 103rd minute of play.

“They were patient. They were composed, and they got the game-winner today,” WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger said. “A lot of times on Sunday it's not pretty soccer. Our group went down a goal for the first time this year, and showed a little bit of fight to get back.”

The Titans were first to net a goal in the match, converting a penalty kick in the 24th minute. WSU sophomore Jordan Branch made a hard challenge on a Fullerton attacker, forcing the referee to point to the spot. The Titans' Connie Caliz stepped up and scored her first goal of the season to give Cal State Fullerton the 1-0 lead.

For the first time in the season, WSU trailed in a match, entering halftime down 1-0. Returning from the break, the match became more physical. Shulenberger was issued a red card in the 56th minute for dissent, before redshirt-junior Susie White picked up a yellow card for a hard challenge inside the box. The foul forced the referee to call a second penalty for the Titans. Fullerton's leading goal scorer, Rebecca Wilson, stepped up for the shot. Wilson's shot went low and right, ricocheting off the post, allowing the Cougars to clear the ball and avoid a 2-0 deficit.

Wilson's miss would prove fatal for the Titans, as WSU junior Kaitlyn Johnson found the back of the net in the 81st minute. Fellow junior Kailiana Johnson tried to play a ball in to Kaitlyn, forcing Fullerton's Bertsch to come off her line. Bertsch deflected the ball, but was unable to smother it before Kaitlyn beat a defender and poked home her second goal of the season to tie the match at 1-1.

With the Cougars and Titans tied at the end of regulation, the two teams played a scoreless opening overtime period. Returning to the field for the second overtime period, Fullerton conceded a free kick at the left side of midfield in the 102nd minute. Kailiana Johnson stood over the ball, serving a long floater to the far post for Guetlein to head home, collecting her second goal in as many matches, and earning WSU its sixth-consecutive the victory.

“Coach has been telling us all week, 'Good teams know how to win. They know how to pull it out,'” Guetlein said. “That was our mentality going in to this match. We went down for the first time this season, which was stressful, but it put us in a good spot to see how we can handle that situation.”

On the statistics sheet, WSU was outshot by Fullerton, 21-19, but managed to put 11 shots on frame to the Titans' nine. The Cougars earned five corner kicks to Fullerton's two. WSU redshirt-freshman Ella Dederick picked up her sixth win of the season, making a career-high eight saves.

Washington State will look to continue its success, welcoming regional rival Gonzaga to Lower Soccer Field, Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m., before traveling to Portland to face the Pilots, Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m.

COUGAR NOTES

Kourtney Guetlein scored her second goal of the season and eighth of her career…Kaitlyn Johnson notched her second goal of the season and sixth of her career…Kailiana Johnson earned her first assist of the season and sixth of her career…WSU has not allowed a second-half goal in nonconference play since Sept. 9, 2012…WSU has an active unbeaten streak in regular season nonconference play of 22 matches, the third-longest in the country…WSU improves to 2-1-0 all-time against Cal State Fullerton…the Cougars improve to 109-68-19 all-time in the month of September.