Under Pressure

Thursday, September 3

Bellingham, Wash.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

0-1-0

Western Washington

1-0-0

Team	1	2	OT 2	Final F
California Baptist	0	0	0	0
Western Washington	0	0	1	1

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

9/3/2015 9:08:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Sammi Sheppard, Director of Sports Information

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Going up against a ranked opponent in the first game of the season can bring some pressure with it, but California Baptist University stood up to the tension early against No. 14-ranked Western Washington Thursday night. The Lancers set up a solid wall of defense for 90 minutes, forcing extra time, but couldn't hold off the Vikings, falling 1-0 in the 96th minute.

CBU opens the season 0-1-0, while WWU starts with a perfect 1-0-0 record.

"We scheduled tough regional teams early for this reason, to test ourselves," said Coach Kristen St. Clair. "WWU is a good team, but so are we. We're young and a little banged up, but we worked hard. I'm proud of them for that. We would've liked the result, but this is a good starting point."

Last year, the Lancers held their opponents to an average 9.8 shots per game. To open this season, however, they surrendered an uncharacteristic 27 shots on the day, including 11 on frame, but most were from long range and not much of a challenge for goalkeeper Sara Escobedo. The sophomore had her hands full, making 10 saves on the day to keep her team in the game.

"Sara was fantastic," said St. Clair. "She made even the hard shots look easy."

Despite working their way into the attack, the Lancers struggled to get anything out of it and didn't take their first shot until the second half. Isalei Tauese fired a long range shot off, but a Viking just stepped in front to block the shot before it could be too dangerous.

In the 66th minute, CBU got its first look on goal in the 66th minute from Miranda Martinez. The freshman midfielder/target forward rocketed off a shot from the left side of the 18-yard box, but the WWU goalkeeper dove to pick up her first of just two saves of the game.

Chaylin Couzens gave the Lancers one last look at goal in the 89th minute, hoping to prevent overtime, but couldn't find the back of the net.

WWU finally did break through in extra time, sending a lofty ball into the far pocket of the net to win the game 1-0 in overtime.

CBU continues its young season in Washington as it takes on former NAIA opponent Concordia (Ore.) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., hoping to bounce back from the early defeat.

"We'll continue to work on some things, but I thought our back four did really well for us," said St. Clair. "They forced WWU to take long range shots. We'll take this game, learn from it and move forward."