THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's soccer team captured their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory this season defeating Redlands 1-0 at William Rolland Stadium on Wednesday night. An unfortunate own goal by the Bulldogs gave the lead to the Regals early in the second half and they would not look back as they secured the win with impressive defensive play.
In the 54th minute, Bianca Deardorff raced down the sideline with the ball and connected on a beautiful cross from the corner that landed right in front of the goal. CLU had a player on the other end of the cross, however, a Bulldog defender stepped in to clear the ball and deflected it into the net for the own goal.
The Regals played tough defense all night in part due to the return of Kiki Bailey in goal. Bailey tallied four saves and had impeccable timing on two critical plays where she left her line to prevent shots by Redlands. Julia Kearns, Mallory Carcich and Olivia Leyva all made key plays in succession on the defensive end in the second half to thwart the Bulldog attack.
Alli Calabrese led the offensive charge for the Regals with two great looks at the goal in the first half. Looking to get on the scoreboard early in the 15th minute, Calabrese was out in front all alone but her shot just sneaked wide right. In the 32nd minute, Calabrese had another opportunity but the Bulldog goalie ran out and dove to stop the shot.
Jenna Malinowski was the only other Cal Lutheran player to attempt a shot on a night where Redlands outshot CLU 8-4 and had a slight edge in shots on goal 4-3.
Cal Lutheran (3-4-1, 1-2 SCIAC) will hope to ride the wave of momentum in to Saturday night as they take on Pomona-Pitzer at William Rolland Stadium at 7:00 p.m.
Box Score: UR 0 CLU 1
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