Oct. 26, 2012
Highlanders 3 – Tigers 2
The UC Riverside women’s soccer (7-9-3) team continued their success when they marched into Knoles Field at the University of the Pacific last Friday Oct. 26 and snatched a 3-2 overtime victory on the road against the struggling Pacific Tigers (3-13-1), now losers of their last six.
It only took seven minutes for the first goal of the match to be scored, when Highlander Alex Duran’s shot was deflected, yet still found itself into the back of the net off the hands of Pacific goalkeeper Kathrine Larsen. The Tigers fought back and scored the equalizing goal in the 37th minute. Lauren Olvera’s attempt hit the crossbar and found Brittni Beeman, who headed the ball in for the score.
The Highlanders struck swiftly in the second half, led by Tyler Cunningham’s goal at the 45-second mark of the second period to make the score 2-1 and give the Highlanders their second lead of the night.
The Tigers would continue fighting, albeit letting scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity pass them by as the clock drew ever so closer to the dreaded double zeroes that would all but add to the pain of a disappointing season. In the 84th minute, when all hope seemed lost, Tiger Brittni Beerman picked up her second goal of the night, continuing her stellar performance, as well as the hopes of the Pacific Tigers.
Those hopes would soon be squashed by the Highlanders, who scored the winning goal and their seventh win of the season when Tyler Cunningham found Jessica Cortez in the fourth minute of overtime.
Oct. 28, 2012
Aggies 2 – Highlanders 1
Coming off Friday’s win against the Pacific Tigers, the Highlanders traveled 60 miles north to UC Davis on Sunday to square off against the Aggies in their final match of the regular season.
The Highlanders picked up where they left off on Friday and got off to a fast start, taking the lead on the first goal of the afternoon in the 16th minute, courtesy of Andrea Morales.
The Aggies had a chance to equalize in the 29th minute off of a shot by midfielder Stephanie Bell, but it ultimately ended up in the hands of UCR goalkeeper Jessica White, canceling out the Aggies’ only shot on goal of the first half.
It would be a tale of two halves though, as a seemingly lifeless Aggie squad found rejuvenation in the second half, starting with a score in the 64th minute when Lindsey O’Tousa found Taylor Duffner to tie the game at 1-1. The match seemed destined for overtime until the 82nd minute, when UC Davis midfielder Kirstin Holmberg fired a crosser to Ashley Edwards, who headed the ball into the net for the game-winning score.
The Aggies’ offensive explosion in the second half saw them outshoot the Highlanders 11-2.
The loss puts the exclamation mark on a lackluster season for the UCR women’s soccer team, finishing the 2012 season with a 7-10-3 overall record and a 2-6-1 record in Big West conference play. Junior Andrea Morales and Freshman Crystal Lopez ended the season tied for the team lead in scoring with nine points each.
