ORANGE, Calif.– The defense was solid all night for the California Lutheran University women's soccer team, but the match would finish as a scoreless draw and both sides would walk away with a point, Wednesday afternoon at Wilson Field.
While Chapman had the advantage in shots (19-11), but the defensive backline of Zandra Stewart, Katie Weaver, Trinity Martinez and Danielle Vis did well to stifle the Panthers' attack for the entirety of the afternoon.
The hosts were on the front foot in the early minutes, getting forward with great pace and intensity in the early minutes. Chapman won a free kick in a dangerous area in the 21st minute and Riley Pidgeon hit the crossbar with her attempt, nearly giving her team the lead.
CLU were quick to counter, however, and Sam Cornejo had a good opportunity just inside the box but her left-footed shot was denied by the Chapman goalkeeper. Both teams had come very close to finding the opening goal.
A moment of brilliance from Alexa Soto kept the game level just before halftime. Pidgeon was once again presented with another great opportunity when she was sent through on goal and found herself one-one-one with Soto, but the sophomore goalkeeper showed her quality, out-witting the forward to make the save.
At the end of a scoreless 45 minutes, the Panthers held the advantage in shots (8-3) and created majority of the goal-scoring chances.
Soto continued to put her class on display in the 58th minute when she found herself in another one-on-one situation. The Thousand Oaks, Calif. native blocked the first attempt on goal with a fingertip save and then showed her agility as she returned to her feet to deny a near-post attempt from Anna Montemor. The Cal Lutheran goalkeeper was truly keeping her team in the match as her shot-stopping form was top notch on the afternoon.
The remainder of the half would be fairly even, with neither team really able to make their presence felt in the attacking third. It would be 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes and the match would head to overtime.
Shortly after the kickoff to start overtime, Cate Boller had a decent chance to grab the winner after some great work from Alexandra Fagerberg to get down the wing. Boller's effort from outside the box tested Chapman keeper, but was handled comfortably.
Registering shots on target for the Regals were Mandy Crawford, Janelle Gutierrez, Mackenzie Boulware, Cornejo, Vis and Boller
Cal Lutheran will return to William Rolland Stadium on Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. to host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in another important SCIAC showdown.
Box Score: CLU 0, CU 0
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Release by Jeff Rebello, Assistant Sports Information Director