SAN DIEGO – The San Diego women's soccer program (1-12-2, 0-4-1 WCC) built an early lead, but were unable to hang on, falling 4-2, to Saint Mary's (8-5-2, 2-3-0 WCC) on Wednesday night at Torero Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Toreros got off to their fastest start of the season, as Josefine Schlichting opened the scoring.
- Schlichting stole the ball off a defender near midfield and caught the Saint Mary's goalkeeper off her line, lacing a ball from nearly 40 yards away over her head to take a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.
- The Gaels nearly answered on a few occasions, but the defense backed up starting goaltender Ilise Medrano.
- In the 15th minute, a shot from Briana Salvetti was pulled off the line by a Maronne Suzuki header.
- Bella Piete nearly extended the lead, as she stole the ball with a free run towards goal, but her shot was deflected by a diving defender in the 30th minute.
- Later in the half, the ball was pulled off the line again by the Toreros, this time by Mikayla Abrenica off a Tessa Salvestrin header in the 43rd minute.
- The Gaels finally broke through in the second half and built a lead, scoring goals in the 49th, 57th, 65th and 67th minutes to take a 4-1 lead.
- The Toreros had a quick response, as Piete drove into the box and fed Lauren Tanner.
- Tanner fought off some defenders and a deflection, before getting free to score her first collegiate goal and cut the lead to 4-2 in the 70th minute.
- Tanner nearly recorded her second goal just minutes later, as a cross from Katie Baxter eluded the Gaels goalkeeper and was inches from the feet of Tanner, who had only the foot of a defender between her and an empty goal.
- The Toreros earned a few more chances late in the game, but could not break further into the deficit.
TORERO TIDBITS
- Medrano made her first collegiate start in goal, recording five saves.
- The top three shot outputs by the Toreros offense have now all come at home, with the Toreros tallying 12 shots on the night.
- Thanks to Tanner's goal, more than half of the Toreros points this season have now come from a newcomer.
UP NEXT
The Toreros head out on the road for another game this week, facing off against San Francisco on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed via ESPN Plus.