Regals Soccer

The California Lutheran University women’s soccer team meant business this past week, earning victories over both Whittier and Occidental.

In their first game against Whittier, the Regals took the field at William Rolland Stadium. Freshman midfielder Kali Youngdahl started the night with one of her five shots on goal. However, Whittier goalie Caitlyn Schrepfer was able to make a save on the shot, and play continued.

Thirty minutes into the first half, freshman defender Olivia Leyva earned a free kick and the Regals were able to take advantage. Leyva placed her kick into the box to junior midfielder Katie Moyer who then headed it to Youngdahl. Youngdahl fought for the ball and earned a header of her own for the goal to give the Regals a 1-0 lead.

The Regals continued their strong play in the second half. In the 77th minute, Youngdahl put yet another ball into the back of the net with an assist from freshman midfielder Charlotte Rosen.

As play continued, Cal Lutheran kept up with a strong defense and kept possession for the majority of the time, with not a single shot yet from the Poets.

As the game was coming to an end, Whittier fouled the Regals which lead to a penalty kick. Moyer handled it with ease and the score was left at 3-0.

“The Whittier game was when our offense really started to click, scoring three goals in a single match. It was one of the first games that we were able to string together a full 90 minutes of good soccer, creating a rhythm in the game with connecting passes and building up into the attack with possession,” Moyer said.

Youngdahl continued to be a strong component as they took to the road to play Occidental College and scored the game winning goal in double overtime, giving the Regals a 2-1 victory.

Although the Tigers started off the game with seven shots and one goal scored, the Regals came back stronger in the second half.

According to CLUsports.com, freshman forward Kirsten Bergseth earned her first goal of her collegiate career to tie the game up. Fifteen minutes were left in the game before overtime when Youngdahl put another ball in the goal, however it was quickly followed up with a goal from Occidental, to tie the score again.

With five minutes left in regulation, Moyer earned a penalty kick. The Tiger goalie made a diving save, and the teams ended up going into overtime.

After a scoreless first overtime, Moyer won possession over a goal kick and gave it to Youngdahl who shot it for the winning goal in double overtime.

“All I saw was Moyer barge through the defense with her [head] and give an excellent pass to Kali. I knew that was when we would win the game, 43 seconds left. One of the top five screams I’ve ever done,” junior forward Sierra Duarte said.

The rest of the team and the coaches cleared the bench as they ran onto the field to celebrate.

“The Oxy game was definitely a hard fought battle. We were pretty evenly matched and it came down to who wanted it more,” junior forward Bianca Deardorff said. “It was an important game and it puts us in a good position to take on the last half of season play.”

The Regals’ next home game will be Oct. 11 against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Dianna Rohrer

Staff Writer

Published October 8, 2014