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SPOKANE, Wash.—Two impressive goals and strong play from all parts of the field lifted the Gonzaga University women's soccer squad to a win over Saint Mary's Friday afternoon as the Zags prevailed 2-1 at Luger Field in Spokane, Wash.
"The last two weeks we've been trying get ourselves on the same page, to grow a lot from the non-conference games and start to put these pieces together" said Gonzaga women's head coach Amy Edwards. "They put those pieces together today. I'm super excited for them to get the win to start of the conference season."
The Zags saw quality play and contribution up and down the pitch in their first West Coast Conference match of the season, but the midfield shined particularly bright as two midfielders scored both Bulldog goals and the rest kept winning possession back from the Gaels' attack.
"The midfield play was crucial for us to get the win. Aliyah (Miller) and Heather (Johnson) kept battling for those balls in the air," said Edward, "and then Tori (Lee) was that calming influence for us when we needed to settle things down."
The Bulldogs opened the match strong offensively, taking the first four shots. Karley Baggerly saw the best of these opening opportunities as she saw an open net from the left side of the box in the 10th minute. Her shot, a hard boot towards the right post, was turned aside by a Saint Mary's defender and it went out for a GU corner kick.
The Gaels opened scoring late in the 33rd minute when Vicki Shimkus collected a rebound from a blocked shot. She pushed the ball past Gonzaga keeper Christie Tombari from about 10 yards out for the first goal of the match.
The visitors didn't hold the lead for long, however, as Gonzaga responded with a goal of their own just 1:18 later. Johnson came from left to right in the Zags' attacking end with the ball, beating her defender in the process. The junior midfielder then drove the ball on frame. Gaels' keeper Julia McDonald got her hands on it, but was not able to stop the shot from bouncing up into the crossbar and landing in the net for a goal, Johnson's second of the season.
"Johnson's goal was brilliant. Not only was it great technically, but she scored two minutes later [after Saint Mary's goal] to give us our confidence back. That's why it was a brilliant goal," said Edwards. "We've been trying to get her more into the attack and we've worked on that the last two weeks. You can see that, she was taking her chances today and it paid off for her."
After going into the halftime break deadlocked at one, the Zags found the go-ahead goal with 20 minutes left in regulation when Lee stepped over a corner kick. She hit the kick well with her right foot. The ball sailed just over McDonald's outstretched hand in the middle of the goal and curled in near the far post for the direct goal, Lee's third on the season.
"Tori's service right in there for the game winner, that's typical Tori," said Edwards.
It wasn't just the midfield that won the game, the defense and the forwards did their part as well. The Zag defense held the Gaels to just two shots in the entire second half while the offense created seven shots in that period and 15 throughout the match.
"Our back four are really starting to gel, and their communication today was spot-on. They handled Saint Mary's attack well, and their distribution was great as well," said Edwards. "We also had to have a lot of work rate from our forwards. They had to work both sides of the ball today and we're very happy with their performance."
The Zags (6-5-0, 1-0-0 WCC) look to start out the first weekend of conference play with two wins on Sunday, Oct. 5. They'll host Pacific at 11:00 a.m., again on Luger Field.
