by Olga Gomez |
Being home on Merlo with a booming student section and the Villa Drum Squad’s chants set the tone for the women’s soccer team to defeat the UC Irvine Anteaters 3-1 on Friday night at the 2015 Nike Portland Invitational. The win brings the Pilots to 2-4-0 in the season.
Thirty-six seconds in, the Pilots took possession of the ball and found their momentum. It only took redshirt junior Devlyn Jeter a little over two minutes to give the Pilots their lead.
“Playing in front of the fans—the crowd—we definitely feed off their energy and we definitely try to give them a game that’s entertaining and that they want to watch,” Jeter said. “Our energy picked up right away...and pumped us up”.
Portland’s senior Noelle La Prevotte and junior Allison Wetherington both had good looks at the goal, but couldn’t find the back of the net. The Pilots' midfielder, Parkes Kendrick, also tried to score, but the ball was stopped by the Anteaters’ goalkeeper, Corey Tobin.
The Anteaters made their first shot on goal in minute 34, when Kiana Palacios missed and the Pilots received their fifth foul of the night.
At the 30 minute mark, the Pilots subbed freshman Cecilia Pedersen in for Jeter. Within eight minutes of playing time, Pedersen scored the second goal for the Pilots.
In minute 42, UC Irvine’s midfielder, Alex Karlowitsch scored off an assist from Palacios. To try to offset that goal, Pedersen attempted to score for the Pilots again, but Anteater’s goalkeeper, Corey Tobin blocked the shot. At the half, Portland led the Anteaters 2-1.
In the 59th minute, UC Irvine’s Sammie James took a shot, but was blocked by the Pilots’ freshman goalkeeper, Rachel Lusby. With the Pilots in possession of the ball, La Prevotte scored the third and last goal of the night in the 68th minute with an assist from Pedersen and Kendrick.
The Pilots will face CSUN at 2:30 p.m. at home on Sunday, Sept. 13.
Olga Gomez is a sports reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at gomezo18@up.edu or on Twitter @olgaagomezz.
