After losing their first two conference games on the road, the Regals soccer team looks to rebound at home for its next three matches.
On Wednesday, Sept. 17 the California Lutheran University women’s soccer team opened up the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on the road against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Regals fell by a final score of 4-1. In the first half, Cal Lutheran could not stop the CMS offensive attack. The Athenas scored two goals in the first 45 minutes, one coming from senior midfielder Elizabeth Augustine and the other from forward Sydney Smith who finished the night with two goals.
In the second half Cal Lutheran got on the board when sophomore forward Katelyn Kimball scored her first goal of the year in the 80th minute off an assist from freshman mid-fielder Sarah Wardle. CMS answered quickly with a goal of its own with under 10 minutes to play which ultimately sealed the deal.
“It felt nice to finally be able to do something to help the team and help our forwards get motivated to keep scoring for the upcoming games,” Kimball said.
Cal Lutheran goalie Coral Hasley played all 90 minutes of the match and racked up five saves while CMS goalies Molly Freed and Morgan McCoy split time and finished with a combined total of four saves. A key aspect of the game was the amount of shots on goal the Athenas had, outshooting the Regals 16-7.
“I think we definitely needed to capitalize on the opportunities that we had. I think that’s what they did differently and that’s why the game resulted in the way that it did. I think we need to have more confidence and be stronger when we’re going against players and we have to stand our ground,” said Julie Watson, junior defender for Cal Lutheran.
With the loss Cal Lutheran fell to 2-3-1 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
“We’re just going to take everything into perspective and we’re going to look at what we need to do up top and just connect more, so were just going to focus more on that and touch up the small details,” said Nancy Nunez, junior forward for CLU.
The Regals are looking toward new players at the forward position after graduating two First Team All-SCIAC forwards last year. They are relying heavily on the leadership of Kimball and the other veteran players on the team to step it up especially on the offensive end in their matches to come.
“I’m definitely going to keep my energy up the same way that it was in the last game and I hope that my energy can help the other forwards just have the confidence to keep getting more goals and just kind of get out this route we’re in. I think that we will be good,” Kimball said.
Cal Lutheran looked to show off that energy and confidence against the University of LaVerne on Saturday, Sept. 20. However, the Regals could not pick up their first conference win.
Despite being outshot 14-10, the Leopards were able to edge the Regals by a score of 2-1.
The lone Regals goal was scored by junior midfielder Katie Moyer in the 14th minute to give the Regals a 1-0 lead.
However, the momentum shifted towards the Leopards in the second half as it scored two goals in the first six minutes of the half.
Freshman midfielder Kali Youngdahl led the Regals with four shots on goal, more than LaVerne’s team total of two.
The Regals will look to turn its season around in their home conference opener on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.
Randall Shumpert
Staff Writer
Published September 24, 2014