Redlands 1- 0 Pomona-Pitzer
UR: (17’) Laursen
As the Redlands women’s soccer team took the field on October 17th, they were looking to avenge an embarrassing 7-0 defeat to this same Pomona-Pitzer team just a month ago. While they didn’t score seven times themselves, the Lady Bulldogs handed the Sagehens a loss on a brilliant free kick that was ultimately the lone goal in the match.
This game was a stark contrast to the teams’ first encounter this season, as there weren’t many scoring opportunities for either side. The Sagehens had three shots on goal while the Bulldogs only had two for themselves, but Redlands was the team able to capitalize on their chances.
In the 17th minute, the Bulldogs had their first opportunity after a foul was called on their opponents, giving Redlands a free kick from 35 yards out. The spotlight was put on senior Savannah Laursen, as she was the player slated to take the kick, and she delivered, blasting the shot over the head of the goalie for a fantastic goal to put the team up 1-0.
The Redlands’ defense was brilliant as the Sagehens still hadn’t taken a shot on goal by the time the halftime whistle blew.
“We worked really hard [in practice] on how to screen out their best players,” said head coach Suzette Soboti. “We were able to deny them of potential opportunities at midfield before they turned into real chances,” she said, praising the team as a whole for their defensive efforts.
The second half got a little more testy for the Bulldogs, as the Sagehens were able to fire off three hard and accurate shots, but they were all denied by sophomore Hannah Menk, as her and senior Lexi Felix combined to shutout Pomona-Pitzer. When it was all said and done, the Bulldogs came out on top 1-0.
With the win, Redlands was able to pass up Pomona-Pitzer in the standings, as they are now up to second place and just one point back from Claremont Mudd-Scripps for the top spot in the SCIAC. But Soboti is glad that the team doesn’t pay attention to that right now, saying that
“You can get in trouble when you start thinking about standings… we just want to focus on playing good soccer.”
The Bulldogs travel to Whittier on Wednesday to take on the Poets in another conference showdown.
[Image courtesy of Sky Ung, Redlands Bulldog photographer]
