The University of Redlands women's soccer team hosted the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Farquhar Field. After a tight head-to-head battle through the first half, Redlands surrendered two, second-half goals en route to the tough defeat.
Although the Maroon and Gray slightly outshot the Sagehens, 6-5, in the first half, neither team's defense gave an inch, which led to 45 scoreless minutes. Redlands gained a good opportunity in the 17th minute when senior defender Louisa Alstot (Portland. OR) set up a corner kick. She sent the ball to the far side of the box, where sophomore defender Abby Nordquist (Gig Harbor, WA) elevated to connect on a header that took a tough bounce past the left side of the net.
The Bulldogs managed two consecutive shots from sophomore midfielder Eva Vlassopoulos (Portland, OR) and senior forward Madison Mills (San Ramon, CA) but, unfortunately, neither hit the mark. Mill's attempt looked promising, but a Pomona-Pitzer defender knocked the ball out of bounds to keep Redlands off the board.
Late in the first half, sophomore midfielder Emily Falla (Woodinville, WA) unleashed a solid shot that flew wide left. Nonetheless, the teams retreated to the sidelines for halftime in a defensive stalemate.
However, the Sagehens came out firing in the second half and put two goals on the board by the 64th minute.
Playing against the clock, the Bulldogs fought hard to cut the deficit with a few late opportunities. Nordquist was quick to try to find an answer with a challenging shot on the Sagehen goalkeeper that forced a diving save in the 69th minute.
With the lead, Pomona-Pitzer did a solid job of controlling the time of possession to close out the half and allowed only two shots for the remainder of the game. The Maroon and Gray nearly scored in the 86th minute on a free kick from junior forward Alexa Groesser (Greenwood Village, CO), but the ball sailed high. The Bulldogs' final chance came in the 89th minute when Alstot knocked the ball wide left of the Sagehen net.
Redlands (5-3-1, 4-1-1 SCIAC) competes at home again on Saturday, September 29, when it welcomes the Regals of Cal Lutheran University to Farquhar Field for an 11 a.m. contest.
