REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Soccer team recognized their five seniors Malia Kuhl (Seattle, WA), Sami Salinas (Foothill Ranch, CA), CJ Akroush (Pasadena, CA), Elena Pinto (Kent, WA), and Avery Bergschneider (Denver, CO) prior to a 3-0 loss to UC Santa Cruz Saturday morning.
The Banana Slugs earned the early advantage with the first two shots of the game, one of which forced a save from Shannon Stewart (San Jose, CA), before a shot in the fifth minute made it 1-0 UCSC.
Three minutes later the Banana Slugs extended their lead to 2-0 scoring on a through ball in the box.
Following three more saves for Stewart, UCSC added their third goal of the day in the 23rd.
Redlands finally created space for a shot in the 30th minute when Santa Cruz native Anika Schmied (Santa Cruz, CA) missed high.
The best sequence for the U of R, though, was in the 42nd when Jaiden Riodil (Tigard, OR) took it towards the right side of the penalty area taking a shot, which was blocked. She was then the first to the rebound near post and had a one-on-one with the goalie taking back-to-back shots that were both saved as Riodil had a tight angle to shoot.
The final opportunity for Redlands came from Kelsey Williams (Murrieta, CA) in the final minute and a half of the opening 45:00 as she put the third Bulldog shot on goal, which was handled as they trailed at the break, 3-0.
In the opening minutes of the second half Stewart was forced into making two more saves to keep Redlands alive.
Salinas then earned a chance with space and took a 25-yard strike at goal that missed by only a few feet over the crossbar.
That shot was the lone attempt of the half as the Banana Slugs picked up the road victory.
Redlands wraps up their 2024 season on the road, beginning with No. 22 California Lutheran University next Wednesday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. and will then make a trip to Los Angeles for a 7:00 p.m. game at Occidental College on Saturday, November 2.
