REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's soccer team (2-4, 1-0) shutout the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 3-0 in their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener Saturday afternoon at Farquhar Field.
The Bulldogs put five shots on target in the first half and put away three of those opportunities. Faith Kasper (Menifee, CA) had the first look in the fourth minute, but it was a long range shot that was collected in goal.
15 minutes later in the 19th, Averie Stunz (Stanwood, WA) crossed a ball into the middle of the box where neither the Beaver goalkeeper nor another Bulldog attacker were able to get to it, so it fell to Vanessa Martinez (Mission Hills, CA) who calmly slotted the ball home for a 1-0 U of R lead. It was the first goal of Martinez's career.
The ensuing possession after the whistle to resume play it was Caltech who came close to beating Nicole Immoos (San Luis Obispo, CA) in goal and equalizing, but Immoos was up to the task and kept Redlands out in front.
Goal number two for the Bulldogs came in the 27th minute off a corner by Martinez. She sent the ball in from the left corner flag and found the head of defender Jessica Chavez (Cayucos, CA) who headed the ball down making it 2-0 with her first career goal. The assist also went to Martinez, which was the first of her career too.
The final big firework of the first half came courtesy of Taylor Tidquist (Snoqualmie, WA) who received a ball from Amanda Bear (San Diego, CA) before turning up the field, taking a shot from well outside the right corner of the penalty area. The attempt went over the outstretched glove of the Caltech keeper, securing the 3-0 lead.
In a slower offensive second half, Keilani Ayala (Corona, CA), Riley Gutierrez (San Bernardino, CA), and Jaiden Riodil (Tigard, OR) all had shots that forced saves from Caltech and the combination of Immoos, Jenna Sanchez (Tustin, CA), and Rhiannon Waldschmidt (San Jose, CA) in goal were not called into action in the final 45. The shutout is Redlands' first since a 3-0 win against the Beavers last October.
The Bulldogs dominated the game, with 25 of the game's 28 shots including seven of the eight on goal. They also held a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Redlands continues with SCIAC play this Wednesday, September 23 when they make the trip west to University of La Verne with kickoff at 7:00 p.m.
