With freshman midfielder Savannah Laursen (Boise, ID) leading the way, the University of Redlands women's soccer team used three second-half goals to register an important 3-1 win over Whittier College on Wednesday evening. The triumph moves the Bulldogs into sole possession of second place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings.
Despite out-shooting the Poets in the first half, 7-3, the Bulldogs struggled to find the finishing touch.
However, that all changed less than 12 minutes into the second stanza, when Laursen played a nicely-weighted through-ball to sophomore forward Kristen Arroyo (San Diego, CA) in the 57th minute. Arroyo finished well as she one-timed it past the Poet goalkeeper for her first goal of the season.
Continuing to stay on the offensive, Redlands found the back of the net in the 85th minute. Laursen once again was the distributor for the Maroon and Gary, finding sophomore midfielder Devin Wright (Upland, CA), who buried her second goal of the season.
Just over a minute later, Laursen finished out her fantastic performance when she scored her team-leading fourth goal of the year, sealing the game for the Bulldogs.
Whittier managed 11 shots in the second half, but Redlands' junior goalkeeper Sabrina Grandke-Bawab (Kirkland, WA) notched seven saves to keep the Poets at bay. The opponents, however, did find the back of the net once, as Allison Calabrese tallied the Poets' lone score of the match with less than two minutes left on the clock.
Overall, the Bulldogs out-shot the Poets, 18-14, and recorded more corner kicks with a 5-2 advantage.
Redlands (6-1-2, 5-1-1 SCIAC) returns home on Saturday to take on Occidental College in a 1 p.m. conference battle.