THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's soccer team is happy to be home, and they showed it with a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opening 2-1 win against Chapman on Wednesday night at Rolland Stadium.
After a weekend trip to Washington that saw CLU drop a pair via shutouts, the Regals came out aggressive and looking to score. The Violet and Gold put up five shots within the early minutes of the game and finally broke through for a goal in the 14th minute.
Bianca Deardorff spun away from a defender in the attacking third, above the box, and dished a pass to a streaking Raquel Weckhurst who shot past the goalie's outstretched arms to put CLU up 1-0.
The Regals were all over the pitch and dominated the possession for the entire first half. A strong defensive unit of Mallory Carcich, Olivia Leyva and Nikole Prelooker held the Panthers without a shot attempt in the opening stanza.
To start the second half, however, Chapman capitalized on its first shot of the game as Julia Diaz drilled a shot from 25 yards out to the back post for the equalizer.
Just 53 seconds later, Weckhurst broke away from the Panthers defense and earned a penalty kick after getting fouled in the box. She would convert the try with ease to give CLU its final margin of victory, 2-1, and her third goal of the season to lead the team.
The Regals outshot the Panthers 19-4 for the game and held Chapman without a shot on goal. CLU also earned five corner kicks while limiting the Panthers to zero. Weckhurst fired off a season-high nine shots and Deardorff added three. Prelooker, Leyva, Emily Williams, Kali Youngdahl, Deanna Dakar, Katelyn Kimball and Jordan Miller also added a shot in the game.
Cal Lutheran (2-3, 1-0 SCIAC) will continue conference play on the road this Saturday, Sept. 19 at Redlands (2-0-1, 1-0 SCIAC) at 7:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 2, CU 1
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