The University of Redlands women's soccer team took on Caltech's inaugural women's program in a historic match on Farquhar Field on Friday night. Redlands matched the high temperatures in intensity by putting five through the posts for the 5-0 win in the teams' official openers to the 2017 season and Caltech's first-ever contest in women's soccer.

Caltech got the first shot off of the game on a free kick but it hit the cross bar. This lit a fire in the Bulldogs, as they worked the ball down to their offensive third. Senior defender Erin Schlosser (Sammamish, WA) banged a shot, but the Beaver keeper stopped it. Thankfully, senior forward Mollie Craighead (Descanso, CA) was right where she needed to be to tap it in off the deflection for the Maroon and Gray's first goal of the night.

The next 23 minutes of the first period saw lots of offensive opportunities for the Bulldogs, but none were going through. After Caltech fouled in the 29th minute to set up a free kick, junior defender Louisa Alstot (Portland, OR) launched a nice ball that found freshman forward Emily Falla (Woodinville, WA) on the right side of the box. Falla took one touch and sent the ball into the back of the net for the 2-0 Bulldog advantage.

Less than a minute later, junior forward Madison Mills (San Ramon, CA) dodged her way through traffic and blasted a shot from the far left corner of the box that sailed past the diving Caltech keeper for Redlands' 3-0 lead nearing halftime.

During the second half, Redlands showcased some of its depth by allowing some new players to see the field, including freshman midfielders Eva Vlassopoulos (Portland, OR) and Holland Aucoin (Monroe, WA). The game was fairly even through the first 15 minutes of the second half, with Redlands gaining a slight edge in shots with a 2-1 margin.

The home team orchestrated an offensive burst in the 70th minute, as Schlosser fired off a beautiful corner kick that found junior forward Hayley Romo (Port Orchard, WA), who headed it past the Caltech keeper to capitalize on the set piece.

Finally, in the 87th minute, sophomore forward Bryn Anderson (Tahoe City, CA) found space and slotted it into the bottom-right corner for Redlands' fifth and final goal.

The Bulldogs look to stay in the win column when they take on the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs on Thursday, September 7, at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field.