The University of Redlands women's soccer team welcomed the Regals to Farquhar Field on Friday evening. After a hard-fought 90 minutes, the Maroon and Gray ultimately fell to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) foe Cal Lutheran, 0-2.
After Redlands celebrated the impressive careers of its two seniors, midfielder Emily Falla (Woodinville, WA) and defender Abby Nordquist (Gig Harbor, WA) the Bulldogs were ready for action on Friday night.
The Regals challenged sophomore goalkeeper Courtney Stewart (San Jose, CA) early in the contest but she came up with two big saves to keep Cal Lutheran off the board. Unfortunately, the opposing team's peppering paid off in the 11th minute, forcing Redlands to work from behind.
Senior forward Eva Vlassopoulos (Portland, OR) subsequently took things into her own hands in the 14th minute, dribbling up the middle of the field, flying past Regal defenders, and booted a shot that sailed high.
Stewart continued to be money between the pipes, making two more stops in the half. First-year forward Julianna Ortega (Whittier, CA) also made good use of her first time competing on Farquhar Field with a shot on goal in the 44th minute that the Cal Lutheran keeper got in front of.
The Regals managed to add a score in the second half, putting Redlands in an 0-2 hole with just under 30 minutes to play.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kaiah Mooradian (Fort Collins, CO) entered the game in the 70th minute and was immediately put to the test but came up with a stop. On the quick counterattack, junior midfielder Charlie Baum (Hesperia, CA) drove the ball upfield and hit a nice strike that went just high. Action bounced back and forth from end to end as Mooradian made two more saves in the 77th and 86th minute.
Following a Regal yellowcard near the top of the box at the 88th-minute mark, Falla fired a kick towards goal that was blocked by a Cal Lutheran defender. Unfortunately, time ran out before Redlands could complete a comeback resulting in a tough, 0-2 loss.
The Bulldogs look to flip the script when they head to Thousand Oaks on Wednesday, March 31, for a 7 p.m. game at Cal Lutheran.
