A really satisfying win against a skilled, pushy, grabby, very physical Santa Clara team that returns 9 of 11 starters from last year's championship team.
We gave up a corner kick goal in the third minute of the game, but equalized before half with a short through pass to Katie Duong (junior transfer from Minnesota). In the second half we had numerous dangerous chances, eventually scoring on a corner kick on a superb header by Amy Sayer (sophomore from Australia). Especially gratifying because Sayer, who was jostling with the SC goalkeeper before the kick, during the kick got pushed in the back by the goalkeeper about 5 feet out of the goal, right into the path of the ball which she headed cleanly down and into the net. Insurance goal in the 84th minute by Maya Doms who took a good leading pass, dribbled across the top of the box and created enough space to blast a rocket into the upper right corner; GK didn't even try to block it. It was great to be at a sporting event with a sold-out, loud crowd.
A strong win that sets us up for the start of conference play on Friday against Utah, led now by former Cardinal associate head coach Hideki Nakada.
We gave up a corner kick goal in the third minute of the game, but equalized before half with a short through pass to Katie Duong (junior transfer from Minnesota). In the second half we had numerous dangerous chances, eventually scoring on a corner kick on a superb header by Amy Sayer (sophomore from Australia). Especially gratifying because Sayer, who was jostling with the SC goalkeeper before the kick, during the kick got pushed in the back by the goalkeeper about 5 feet out of the goal, right into the path of the ball which she headed cleanly down and into the net. Insurance goal in the 84th minute by Maya Doms who took a good leading pass, dribbled across the top of the box and created enough space to blast a rocket into the upper right corner; GK didn't even try to block it. It was great to be at a sporting event with a sold-out, loud crowd.
A strong win that sets us up for the start of conference play on Friday against Utah, led now by former Cardinal associate head coach Hideki Nakada.