The University of Redlands women's soccer team silenced the Regals of Cal Lutheran University with its offensive power during the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships earlier today in Thousand Oaks. The Bulldogs posted a hat trick against the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) regular-season champions and now move on to the third round for the first time in program history.
Junior forward Fionna Connolly (Salem, OR) continued her postseason hot streak by registering the first score of the game as she headed in senior defender Breann Puchalski's (Redlands, CA) corner kick only seven minutes into action. Connolly has carried the Bulldogs as of late, scoring five of Redlands' eight postseason goals for 12 total in her junior campaign.
Redlands native senior forward Chelsea Hafley (Redlands, CA) and senior forward Leslie Horner (Portland, OR) connected together at the 59:24 mark, pushing the lead to 2-0. Horner earned her team-leading fourth assist of the season as she struck a nice cross toward the box, which Hafley headed in for her sixth goal of 2010.
The Bulldogs captured an insurance score in the 68th minute, completing the team's hat trick on junior midfielder Jaimie Morton's (Boise, ID) goal. Sophomore midfielder Kendall Pegan (Lafayette, CA) set up the play with low-lining cross to the far post for her first career postseason point.
Alongside the Bulldog defense, sophomore goalkeepers Rachel Foreman (San Jose, CA) and Linzey Smith (Anaheim Hills, CA) stood strong as they registered their 10th overall shutout victory of the season.
Cal Lutheran managed 18 shots over the 90 minutes but yielded only six on-goal and none for a score.
This was the fourth meeting of the season for these two foes, with the series tied after Redlands defeated the Regals in today's showdown as well as the SCIAC Postseason Tournament semi-final on Nov. 3.
By advancing to the third round, the 2010 Bulldog women's soccer team makes program history with its best showing so far. Redlands appeared in the second round against the University of Puget Sound (WA) in 2004.
The Bulldogs now face off against the winner of the Trinity University (TX)-Hardin-Simmons University match-up, which takes place on Sunday. For information about this game, please log on to www.ncaa.com.
Additional details of Redlands' next match will be posted on www.goredlands.com as they become available.
