WSOC Says Goodbye to Seven Seniors
11/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
HTML Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash.—It was a bittersweet Senior Day for the seven graduating players on Gonzaga's women's soccer team Saturday as they took the pitch at Luger Field for the last time. Despite a 3-0 loss to Portland, the talented senior class helped the Zags put a cap on the program's best season since 2007.
"This group has been around for a long time," said Gonzaga women's soccer head coach Amy Edwards of her senior class. "We're truly grateful to them and wish we would have been able to give them this win in their career as they've given us so much."
Mikayla Anderson, Cassie Geerdts, Cricket Harber, Tori Lee, Katey Pennington, Kasey Rubosky, and Jordan Travis all played their final match against the Pilots Saturday. Throughout the season, those seven combined for 8,671 minutes on the pitch, scoring a combined 11 goals and providing 11 assists. Five of the seven - Anderson, Harber, Lee, Pennington, and Travis - played in every match, and four started all 19. Both Lee and Pennington ended their careers on the Zags' career assists lists, with 10 and 11 career assists respectively, while Geerdts and Lee are on the squad's season assists list. On defense, Harber, Pennington, and Travis worked tirelessly to lower the Zags' goals-against average in each of the last three seasons.
Thanks in large part to the senior class' production in 2014, the Zags finished 4-4-1 in the West Coast Conference, their first four-win conference season in history, and 9-9-1 overall, at.500 or better for the first time since 2007.
"We certainly made some strides this year and our competitiveness within the conference has certainly improved," said Edwards.
The strong season did not end as the Zags hoped, however, as they fell 3-0 to the Pilots in both teams' season finales. Portland opened scoring in the 16th minute with a goal from Parkes Kendrick, who collected a rebound off a previous Pilot shot and finished into the right side of the net from close range.
After the initial goal, the Zags attempted five other shots during the rest of the half, but four of those attempts were saved by Portland keeper Hannah de Haan and the fifth one sailed high. The Pilots also took five shots after their first goal, getting a second tally just 14 seconds before halftime from Ariel Viera.
The Pilots got a netted a third in the 79th minute when Rebekah Kurle converted a penalty kick.
Midfielder Heather Johnson led all players with five shots, while both she and Lee put two shots on goal. Gonzaga keeper Christie Tombari made nine saves during the match, equaling a season-high she reached three times.
"Today did not define us, it did not define our season," Edwards said. "There's so much that we've accomplished this year and we have to remember that. We also have to remember that we need to continue to build as we want to keep growing this and keep getting better within the conference. We're well on our way, and a lot of it is due to that senior class."
While the seven seniors graduate, the Zags will still return five starters and numerous key substitutes for the 2015 season. For the most up-to-date information on Gonzaga women's soccer, stay tuned to www.GoZags.com.
