Second Half Dominance Leads Zags over Pacific
10/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
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SPOKANE, Wash.—After finding its offensive touch in the second half, the Gonzaga University women's soccer team earned its first ever 2-0-0 start in West Coast Conference play with a 1-0 victory over visiting Pacific Sunday at Luger Field in Spokane.
"I was very pleased with our team's performance the entire weekend, and certainly today," said Gonzaga head coach Amy Edwards. "It's always a hard-fought battle with a physical Pacific team and I felt like we matched it."
Tori Lee netted her second goal of the weekend in the 60th minute on Sunday. Fellow midfielder Heather Johnson started the play by whipping a cross into the box from the left side. After a Pacific defender failed to control the box, Lee pounced on and one-timed the loose ball in to the upper left quadrant of the goal for the game winner. It was Lee's second game winner of the weekend as she scored directly off a corner kick on Oct. 3 to give the Zags a victory over Saint Mary's.
Lee's goal came in a second half that was dominated by the Zags. They outshot the Tigers 11-2 during the period, and eight of those Gonzaga attempts were on frame. Four of Mikayla Anderson's five shots came during the period, and the Zags nearly got a second in the second half when Katey Pennington's attempt was cleared off the line by a Pacific defender in the 72nd minute.
"We did try to play in the flanks a bit more in the second half, but our leadership helped spur on the second half performance," said Edwards. "We've got an upperclassmen-driven team and that helped us stay composed. The last piece of it is we were a fitter team, and you could see that in the second half."
The midfield was once again a big part of the Zags' win Sunday. Lee and Johnson were involved on the Zags' goal while Aliyah Miller once again dominated the middle of the field.
"We owned the midfield," said Edwards. "Heather and Aliyah played well again today and broke up numerous attacks for us. It's difficult for opponents to set up and play when those two are on."
With the win, the Zags clinched their first ever perfect opening weekend in WCC action. In 2011 the Zags drew their first two WCC matches to go unbeaten opening conference play, but they've never won the first two matches before today. Also, the Zags tallied their first ever win over Pacific, snapping a five match losing streak to the Tigers.
Gonzaga (7-5-0, 2-0-0 WCC) takes the pitch again on Thursday, Oct. 9, when they square off against the University of San Diego in San Diego, Calif. That match will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Torero Stadium and be streamed live on theW.tv/live.
