Gonzaga University
UC Irvine
Women's Soccer Falls to UC Irvine In Home Debut
9/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 3, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. - Senior forward Ashley Riley and redshirt junior midfielder Katie Spangenberg each scored a goal, but the Gonzaga University women's soccer team was set back by UC Irvine 6-2 Friday in the Bulldogs home debut in a match that featured two of the top-ranked teams in the Far West regional rankings.
The Bulldogs and UCI were tied for 10th in this week's regional rankings.
After the Anteaters (2-1-1) scored the first goal of the match in the 26th minute and tallied again in the 27th, the Bulldogs (2-2-1) got on the scoreboard seconds later when freshmen midfielder Ali Ohashi and forward Cassie Geerdts set up Riley's shot to the left post from 18 yards out to cut the UCI lead in half.
Redshirt junior defender Elle Sweeney made a notable defensive highlight in the 38th minute as she deflected an open goal shot from the right side by Alyssa Humphrey. The Bulldogs held their ground defensively and made a couple of threats toward the end of the first half.
"I thought the first 10 minutes we came out very hard," said Bulldogs head coach Amy Edwards. "We pressed defensively and got some nice opportunities. Then they took a little bit of the rhythm in the second part of the half, got those two goals.
"We did bounce back and I thought we fought until halftime to get it back to 2-1. We even had a couple more chances in the first half. But I feel like just got outplayed in the second half."
The Anteaters made it a 3-1 match in the 48th minute. Jordan Bruce's corner kick set up Judy Christopher, who found the back of the net from the middle of the goal box. The Anteaters would make it 5-1 on goals by Nikki Forrest and Lexi Kopf, who later scored her second goal of the match in the 89th minute.
Trailing 5-1 in the 89th minute, sophomore forward Kelsey Werre and freshman defender Kellie Shreve worked together to find Spangenberg, who scored Gonzaga's second goal off a cross. But after opening the first four matches on the road, the Bulldogs felt right at home after being away from Gonzaga Soccer Field.
"Just playing on our incredible surface was nice after being away," Edwards said. "We had quite a good group of fans today. But overall, give credit to our team. They kept fighting until the very end after getting that second goal."
The Bulldogs travel to Seattle Sunday to face the Redhawks at 1 p.m.
