Box Score The University of Redlands women's soccer seniors shined in their last regular-season appearance at beloved Farquhar Field, leading the Bulldogs to a 4-0 victory over the University of La Verne on Saturday. Four of the five seniors collected a goal while all five players notched at least one point in the contest, highlighted by senior forward Fionna Connolly's (Salem, OR) assist that landed her at the top of the all-time list for career points at Redlands.
In addition to the Senior Night accomplishments, Redlands clinched the fourth and final spot in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament, which begins Thursday.
Bulldog Athletics started the evening by celebrating seniors Kaily Benenati (Denver, CO), Jaimie Morton (Boise, ID), Maddy Phillips (Seattle, WA), Emily van den Bosch (Arcadia, CA) and Connolly in a short pre-game ceremony.
Redlands jumped out to an early advantage as Phillips lit up the scoreboard in the eighth minute to initiate the on-field festivities. Morton set up the play with a low left cross to the middle, where junior midfielder Kendall Pegan (Lafayette, CA) gave Phillips a one-touch pass, which led to the score.
At the 14:16-mark, the Maroon and Gray struck again with Benenati nabbing her fifth netter of the 2011 season. Morton fed a nice touch into the middle of the field where her senior teammate punched in the second score of the ball game.
The Bulldogs capped off a first-half hat trick less than six minutes later as Morton ripped her fourth career goal after receiving Connolly's record-setting assist.
The game hit a scoreless streak until the 79th minute when van den Bosch registered her first career collegiate goal, creating an eruption from the Homecoming crowd. The back-line star wrapped up the Bulldogs' fourth goal by taking Benenati's cross from the right side.
Watch the goal here
Overall, the U of R put together one of its most impressive offensive outings, racking up 42 shots over 90 minutes of play.
The goalkeeping duo of sophomore Sabrina Grandke-Bawab (Kirkland, WA) and junior Linzey Smith (Anaheim Hills, CA) held down the defense with a combined three saves en route to the squad's fourth shutout of the season.
As the No. 4 seed in the upcoming tournament, Redlands (10-5-1, 7-5-0) travels to Thousand Oaks on Thursday for a semifinal match-up against the ninth-ranked and top-seeded Cal Lutheran University Regals, who completed an undefeated run through the conference regular season.
