THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - For the final time of the season, eight Cal Lutheran women's soccer players suited up for the Regals tonight at William Rolland Stadium. In a must-win-to-stay-in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game against Pomona-Pitzer, the Violet and Gold earned a 3-1 victory for a sweet senior sendoff.
On a fall-like evening, after Mallory Carcich, Deanna Dakar, Brittany Eremita, Jenny Kraska, Jenna Malinowski, Katie Moyer, Julie Watson and Raquel Weckhurst, the entire senior class, were all announced in the starting lineup and after the National Anthem was performed by Moyer, the Regals and Sagehens kicked off.
In the eighth minute, Weckhurstsent a perfect cross to Kali Youngdahl who put up the first crooked number of the night, giving CLU a quick 1-0 advantage. Just over the midway point of the period, Pomona-Pitzer equalized on a goal from Natasha Thornton-Clark.
At the intermission, the Regals held an 8-6 shots advantage, though four of the six PP attempts were on target while CLU had just two shots on goal. Each team had earned a pair of corner kicks.
After the break, the Purple and Gold came out fired up and 1:06 into the stanza Emily Williams ripped a shot from 25 yards out that was initially saved by Pomona-Pitzer goalie Corey Goelz, but the momentum of the ball took her over the goal line, which was confirmed by the referee signaling goal, to push CLU back ahead at 2-1. Youngdahl got the assist on the play. Twenty-four minutes after that, Weckhurst flashed her athleticism, breaking through a pair of Sagehens defenders before taking a shot from midair to notch her 12st goal of the season and increase the home lead to 3-1.
Overall, CLU held a shooting advantage with 11 in the second half to finish with 19. Youngdahl, Weckhurst and Bianca Deardorff shared the team-lead with four apiece while the remaining opportunities were spread between seven other players. Pomona-Pitzer added six more shots to tally 12 total, paced by four from Danika Bethune. The teams would exchange corner kicks in the final 45 minutes to each finish the night with three.
Coral Hasley recorded seven saves in 90 minutes of action as the CLU goalkeeper while counterpart, Goelz, had six.
The SCIAC Postseason Playoff hopes for the Regals remain alive with the win.
Cal Lutheran (7-8-2, 6-5-2 SCIAC) will wrap up its 2015 regular season campaign on Saturday, Oct. 31 at La Verne where the teams will take the field at 7:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, PP 1
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