California Baptist University
Fresno Pacific
Everything But Net
9/26/2013 2:21:00 AM | Women's Soccer
FRESNO, Calif. --- Despite outshooting Fresno Pacific 28-12, California Baptist University couldn't overcome an early goal and fell 1-0 to the Sunbirds Wednesday evening.
"Soccer is a humbling game sometimes," said head coach Kristen St. Clair. "Sometimes it's just not your day. We hit everything but the back of the net. We were all over them for the entire game, but you have to finish."
The loss ended a three-game winning streak, dropping CBU to 3-4 overall, 2-1 in the PacWest. FPU improves to 2-3 on the season and stands 1-1 in conference action.
Before the Lancers could get a rhythm going, the Sunbirds took advantage of a defensive breakdown to take an early 1-0 lead. Haley Tallon finished the goal off a through ball in the fifth minute of play.
"We didn't clear the ball enough," said St. Clair. "They had a shot and they finished it. Credit to FPU, they executed today."
CBU looked to respond quickly, with Kimberly Allard firing off one of her four shots in the seventh minute, but the FPU goalkeeper made the save.
The Lancers continued to press, but couldn't find the back of the net, keeping the score 1-0 at halftime.
With the pressure mounting, CBU came out of halftime desperate to find the equalizer. The Lancers outshot the Sunbirds 17-3 in the second half, registering seven shots in the last 20 minutes--four of which were blocked or saved.
In the 78th minute, Bernadette Witz's shot missed just wide and would prove to be the last shot the Lancers could get off, resulting in the 1-0 defeat.
"We're still learning how to put together a complete 90 minutes," said St. Clair. "The first 15 minutes for us were a little slow. After that was good, but soccer is 90 minutes."
Witz led with a game-high nine shots, followed by Allard and Kelly Jenks who posted four shots a piece. As a team, the Lancers tallied seven corner kicks, while only surrendering one.
"We ran into some adversity tonight, but we'll learn a lesson from that," said St. Clair. "We'll get back to work and be ready for BYU-Hawaii on Saturday."
The Lancers return home looking to shake off the loss with their home conference opener on Saturday. CBU kicks off against BYU-Hawaii at 1 p.m. at Lancer Field.
