Physical and technical play mixed with a get-it-done attitude allowed the SF State women’s soccer team to claw its way to the top of the conference.

“[We’re] scrappy, we have a refuse-to-lose mentality,” Lauren Candia said. “Whatever it takes to win. We want it more than the other team.”

The Gators lead the California Collegiate Athletic Association in fouls with 199. The team can be physical, and will be when the Gators want to announce their presence with authority.

“In the beginning of the game, we always say hit someone hard in the first five minutes. We don’t go out looking to get fouls and cards,” Morgan Davison said. “The first five minutes is to send a message, we want to put them on the ground. This is our field and we want them to know that.”

Along with the fouls, the Gators have been slapped with nine yellow cards to rank third in CCAA.

“When we bang people around it brings energy to the game,” Courtney Hamchuk said. “When we hit someone down it fires us up.”

The team knows how to knock people around, but they also have the ability to make the touch pass or make the shake that breaks ankles.

“An attacking formation with a desire to go and score early and pressure the other team early,” said head coach Jack Hyde about the team’s style of play.

The defense has put together nine shutouts and allowed only six conference goals to lead the CCAA. And the offense has scored enough to win, by scoring 14 goals in conference.

“We’re more of just get it done,” Robin Bowman said. “I wouldn’t call us finesse, I wouldn’t call us physical. We have both players, but I wouldn’t call us either.”

Zoila Marquez fits the mold of both finesse and physical. When Marquez wants the ball, you can expect to see the forearm shiver in the other player’s back. But when she has the ball, she has the fancy footwork to get by the opposing team.

Bowman is the smoothest player both in distributing and handling the ball at her feet. Hamchuk does both, Davison said.

“As a team, we’re really aware of who are the finesse players and who are not,” Davison said. “We know who we need to get the ball to and who will be physical.”

Carly Bliss and Lauren McAulay are the players who are most likely to hit the other team in the mouth. They are physical and win the ball, with muscle and size.

“I would say we’re physical, but not to the extreme,” Marquez said. “Not dirty physical. We’re physical when we have to be.”

The purple and gold steamrolled CSU Monterey Bay 4-0 on Oct. 8. Marquez had two goals, Bowman had one and Kelsey Carapia had her first collegiate goal. SF State took a direct approach with the Otters – attack, attack, attack.

“We’re not a finesse team, we are a direct team,” Hamchuk said. “We like to get the balls to the forwards as quickly as we can.”

On Oct. 10, Cal State San Marcos knocked the Gators down and ended their six-game unbeaten streak and their perfect home record. Bowman had the only goal in the 2-1 loss.

Cal State L.A. caught the wrath of the Gators when they beat them 1-0. Michelle Mason scored her first collegiate goal and Emily Hart picked up her third shutout of the season.

Beating Cal State L.A. put the Gators (9-5-2, 7-2-1 CCAA) atop the CCAA North Division with 22 points, which placed them fifth in the West Region rankings and completed their sweep of every team in the South Division.

SF State will head off for the final road trip of the regular season when they take on Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State.