The University of Redlands women's soccer team hosted Occidental College for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match on Farquhar Field on Wednesday evening. Despite giving up an early goal, the home team quickly regrouped to put two through the posts during the second half for the 2-1 victory over the Tigers.
After Occidental jumped on the board in the fifth minute, Redlands was forced to play from behind but readily accepted the challenge with urgency and determination. Sophomore forward Bryn Anderson (Tahoe City, CA), sophomore forward Alexa Groesser (Denver, CO), and sophomore defender Bria Bowton (Spokane, WA) all had good looks towards the goal, forcing the Occidental goalkeeper to make the save.
Although Occidental had additional scoring opportunities, senior goalkeeper Hannah Menk (Pleasanton, CA) came up with five big saves to keep the Maroon and Gray within striking distance. The Bulldogs worked to pressure the Tigers late in the first half, earning three corner-kick chances in the final 15 minutes of the period.
After an inspiring halftime talk from Head Coach Suzette Soboti, the Bulldogs were ready to turn up the heat. In the 65th minute, junior defender Louisa Alstot (Portland, OR) placed a beautiful corner kick right in front of the goal, finding freshman defender Abby Nordquist (Gig Harbor, WA), who headed it towards the net, but the Oxy keeper made a diving save. Thankfully, junior midfielder Rachel Tungol (San Ramon, CA) was right there for the deflection and put it through the posts for the 1-1 equalizer.
Twelve minutes later, Tungol worked the ball downfield towards Redlands' offensive third. She hit a sharp cross towards the middle of the box and found junior forward Adi Fellows (Albuquerque, NM), who volleyed the ball into the back of the net for the 2-1 Bulldog advantage.
Due to the stealthy backline of Alstot, Nordquist, Bowton, junior Madison Mills (San Ramon, CA), and senior Erin Schlosser (Sammamish, WA), the Tigers' offense remained quiet for the last 13 minutes of the game, giving Redlands the big, 2-1, conference victory.
The Bulldogs (5-1, 2-1 SCIAC) remain at home for their next SCIAC game against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday, September 23, at 7 p.m.
