The University of Redlands women's soccer team enjoyed an all-around 3-1 victory against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on the road in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs came out the gates with a lightning-fast start as they converted a goal in the third minute of the game. After senior forward Hayley Romo (Port Orchard, WA) received a pass inside the box, she collected it and pulled off a nifty move to shake the defense. She immediately finished with a strike to put the Bulldogs up, 1-0, early on.
Both teams traded shots that did not challenge either goalkeeper over the next several minutes. After a shot from senior forward Madison Mills (San Ramon, CA) was blocked, CMS went down to score the equalizer on the counterattack to make it a 1-1 affair.
However, the Maroon and Gray answered with another goal less than five minutes later. Romo knocked in her second score of the night by launching a perfectly-placed ball from 35 yards out off a back pass from senior forward Adi Fellows (Albuquerque, NM).
With the lead, it was up to the defense to deter the Athenas' attack. The Bulldogs stepped up their efforts, which included a save by junior goalkeeper Brittany Dinkins (Renton, WA) in the 28th minute. Junior midfielder Alexa Glick (Boise, ID) was active all game, as she wreaked havoc on CMS with solid ball-control skills. Senior defender Louisa Alstot (Portland, OR) and first-year defender Logan Swim (Issaquah, WA) also played a critical role in stopping the Athenas on several occasions.
During the second half, the Bulldogs stepped onto the field with the same mentality as the first and inflicted two shots in the first minute of action. First-year goalkeeper Natalie Hubacz (Grassvalley, CA) took over in the final 45 minutes and made two saves early in her tenure.
After the Maroon and Gray continued its hard work on defense, the offense worked to build a comfortable lead. Redlands did just that by scoring an insurance goal in the 72nd minute when Mills played a through-ball to sophomore forward Eva Vlassopoulos (Portland, OR). Vlassopoulos darted past the defense to win a one-on-one attack against the goalkeeper to cushion the Bulldogs' lead.
The Athenas only managed to register one more shot, with that one hitting the post in the final minutes of the game.
Redlands (5-2-1, 4-0-1 SCIAC) returns home to Farquhar Field on Wednesday, September 26, for Faculty Appreciation Night against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 7 p.m.