George, Mustangs Break Through

A sign that Michelle George’s college career is nearing an end arrives tonight, when her family will greet her at midfield during pregame ceremonies for senior night at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

But that career isn’t ending before an important first occurs.

The senior from Chatsworth High helped San Luis Obispo earn its first berth to the NCAA tournament in a 3-2 overtime victory over Pacific on Sunday, clinching the Big West Conference title.

“We’ve been on the bubble for the last five years, and finally the bubble burst,” said George, an All-Big West second-team selection in 1998. “Not only did we do it for this year’s team, we did it for the teams of the last five years.”

George played on a Big West championship team as a freshman in 1996, but the Mustangs failed to qualify for postseason play because the conference did not have an automatic bid. Next month,the Mustangs (10-7, 8-1 in the Big West) will play in the postseason for the first time since moving to Division I in 1994.

San Luis Obispo trailed, 2-1, late in the game against Pacific when George sparked a comeback with two assists, her second setting up the game-winning goal in the 93rd minute.

“I thought to myself, ‘There is no way I’m ending my season here,’ ” George said. “I told myself I was going to do whatever I had to do to get a win.”

George, a two-time Times’ all-region selection, scored the winning goal and had an assist in a 2-0 victory Oct. 1 over Big West runner-up North Texas. She ranks third on San Luis Obispo with six goals and eight assists.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” she said. “We thought we would be battling them for the championship.

“All of practice that week, I was kicking the ball over the net. I came in and fired it into the upper-right corner. It felt really good. Everybody toppled me. It was a huge goal.’

George’s teammates include three players from the region.

Lauren Stevenson (Glendale High) came to San Luis Obispo not expecting to play much in her freshman year. She became a starter when goalkeeper Natalia Garcia was lost for the season because of a stress fracture in her foot.

Stevenson got off to a rocky start, missing the first two games because of a shoulder injury and allowing 11 goals in her first three appearances. But she has improved, yielding 18 goals in the last 11 games and dropping her goals-against average from more than five to 2.21, 0.89 in Big West play. She has 55 saves.

Junior Megan Munday (Ventura High) leads the Mustangs in minutes played. The defender was selected to the Cal Poly Invitational all-tournament team in September.

Freshman Sarah Pratts (Agoura) has missed most of the season after injuring her ankle in a 5-1 loss to UCLA on Sept. 22. Pratts’ only goal came in a 3-0 victory over UC Irvine on Oct. 10.

*

Vanessa Thiele (Chaminade) continues to excel at the University of San Diego. The senior midfielder-defender ranks third on the team with 16 points and has started all 15 games for the Toreros (13-2), ranked No. 17 in the nation with Southern Methodist.

Thiele has six assists and five goals, including game-winners against Pepperdine, 2-1, on Oct. 8 and Texas Christian, 3-0, on Oct. 1.

Thiele, a three-time All-West Coast Conference honorable mention and Times’ all-region selection in 1995, had a goal in a 7-0 victory over Louisiana State on Sept. 5 and an assist in a 6-0 victory over San Francisco on Sept. 26.