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Box Score
The Cougar women’s soccer team’s
playoff hopes took a bit of a hit on Sunday, as the team played to a
disappointing 1-1 tie with Cal Lutheran.
Despite controlling play for the majority of the game’s 110 minutes,
CSUSM could not generate many real chances; and when they did get
those chances, the finishes were generally not sharp.
“We didn’t produce enough effort at the start of the game to win,”
commented Head Coach Ron Pulvers. “The girls got into the game as it
went on, but it wasn’t enough to win.”
Perhaps the most telling play occurred in the very first minute.
Though the Cougars started the game with the ball, they made a
couple sloppy passes, eventually losing the ball out their back
line. 26 seconds into a game in which they started with the ball,
CSUSM was already yielding a corner kick to their opponent.
While Cal Lutheran didn’t score on that corner kick, they would bang
one home in the 31st minute. Jordan Kirkman hit the corner into a
large crowd in front of the net, and Brittany Clark was able to
knock it just past Cougar keeper Jane Drury.
With the score 1-0, the Cougars appeared to wake up. The team built
some momentum, applying consistent pressure to Cal Lutheran’s
defense, and limiting their offense to only a handful of
opportunities on the counterattack. After only holding a 4-3
advantage in shots in the first half, CSUSM would dominate the
second half on paper, taking 12 shots to Cal Lutheran’s 2.
And one of those shots would eventually reach the net. In the 80th
minute, CSUSM’s Taylor Ziencina hit a dangerous corner kick into the
box, and Breanna Brenton was able to get a clean header off that
beat the keeper.
What started as a bit of a laid-back game turned intense as it
progressed, with the teams combining for 8 yellow cards. CSUSM
continued to control the pace in overtime, desperately trying to
knock home the winner as Coach Pulvers switched from his original
4-4-2 alignment to a more attack-oriented 4-3-3. But the spirited
Cal Lutheran side strong held on, and the game ended 1-1.
It’s a disappointing result for a Cougar team fighting for a spot in
the playoffs. Aside from Taylor Ziencina, who is “always a spark
plug” according to Pulvers, fellow center midfielder Kelly Wherry,
and defender Lauren Hernandez, Pulvers was not happy with his team’s
effort on Sunday.
“We lacked concentration and energy,” noted Pulvers. “[Assistant
coaches] Bobby and Davey would disagree, but I thought the tie was a
fair result.”
The Cougar women will look for a better result on Wednesday at La
Sierra.
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