WHITTIER, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Soccer team proved to be a tough test for the Whittier College Poets Saturday morning as they cruised to the 2-1 victory on the road.
The Maroon and Grey improve to 3-5, 2-3 SCIAC and have won two of their last three. They also pick up a crucial three points within conference as they move into 5th within the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings. They are now just a point out of 4th and five points out of 2nd.
"We played a feisty Whittier team today and battled to a solid win on the road" explained Head Coach Suzette Soboti. "Whittier is always a tough team to play especially on the road, but we were able to grind out the win."
Two goals in the first half were the difference for the Bulldogs to pull out the road win. The opening tally came ten minutes in off of a corner from first year Sami Salinas (Foothill Ranch, CA) who served a well-placed ball into the front half of the goal for an unmarked finish off a header for Tori Zielinski (Sunnyvale, CA).
Six minutes later UR received the eventual game-winner this time from Eva Vlassopoulos (Portland, OR). It all started with a dynamic buildup beginning with Skylar Pogue (Simi Valley, CA) in the middle of the field. She took a few touches and then played a through ball, which split the center backs for Vlassopoulos who had made a diagonal run behind the back line. After receiving the pass she had a 1v1 with the Poet keeper who she beat with a shot into the lower right hand corner.
After that the Bulldog defense proved stifling limiting the opportunities for the Purple & Gold as they managed just seven more shots the rest of the game. WC managed to cut the deficit in half in the final three minutes with an unassisted goal from Mackenzie Reed, but it wouldn't be enough to spark a come back as UR would hold on for the road win.
Redlands controlled from start to finish with a 14-7 shot advantage coupled with six corner kicks. Courtney Stewart (San Jose, CA) was untested between the posts finishing with two saves playing all 90:00 minutes. Vlassopoulos led the offense finishing with six shots, three of which were on goal, while Zielinski and Charlie Baum (Hesperia, CA) each added two shots.
Redlands continues their four-game road trip Monday, October 4 against Caltech beginning at 4:00pm.