On Sunday afternoon, the University of Redlands women's soccer team earned a crucial west-region victory, downing the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz in double overtime, 2-1.  Senior midfielder Meghan King (Portland, OR) won it for the Bulldogs when she scored a penalty kick in the seventh minute of the second overtime.

In an exciting back-and-forth match, the Maroon and Gray struck first in the 27th minute when senior midfielder Kendall Pegan (Lafayette, CA) hit a crisp pass to sophomore forward Kristen Arroyo (San Diego, CA), who beat one defender and curved the ball over the head of the UC Santa Cruz goalkeeper into the top-left corner of the net.  For Arroyo, the goal was her second on the campaign.

In the second half, both sides created numerous chances, but it was Banana Slug sophomore defender Dru Dowis (Napa, CA) who tied the game for UCSC in the 87th  minute when she slotted the ball into the bottom-right corner of the goal. 

With the score tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, the teams headed to overtime.  In the first extra period, senior defender Maddy Cartwright (Salt Lake City, UT) reacted first to a loose ball in the 18-yard box and just missed out on winning it for Redlands when she hit a shot wide of the left post.

In the second overtime stanza, freshman forward Jennifer Franklin (Shoreline, WA) made a great play to get past the last Banana Slug defender and only had the keeper to beat.  Her shot, however, went just inches wide of the right post, leaving the score level at one. 

Four minutes later, in the 107th minute of the match, freshman midfielder Savannah Laursen (Boise, ID) fed a perfect through-ball to King, who was fouled in the 18-yard box, resulting in a penalty-kick opportunity for the Bulldogs.  King stepped up to the spot and blasted her shot into the back of the net to give Redlands the exciting double-overtime win.

On the day, Redlands out-shot UC Santa Cruz, 30-17, and earned twice as many corner kicks, 8-4.  Franklin and Laursen combined for over one-third of the team's total shots, tallying six and five, respectively.

Junior goalkeeper Sabrina Grandke-Bawab (Kirkland, WA) picked up the win, playing the entire second half and two overtime periods.  During her time on the field, she came up with multiple big-time saves, recording five in all.

Redlands (9-4-3, 6-4-2) looks forward to traveling to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday afternoon for a showdown with the Sagehens.  Both teams are battling for the fourth and final spot in the conference postseason tournament, so the match could prove to be decisive.  Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.