Oct. 19, 2007
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - At home for the first of two games, the Pacific soccer team fell to UC Irvine, 2-0, on Friday, October 19. The loss dropped the Tigers to 6-6-3 overall and 1-3-1 in conference action while the Anteaters improved to 8-5-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the Big West. UC Irvine's win snapped a three game winning streak for the Tigers against the Anteaters.
For the second game in a row the Tigers played tough against a conference foe, holding control of the game for much of the 90 minutes only to see a victory slip into a loss in a matter of minutes.
In the first half of play, Pacific dominated the ball and much of the scoring chances as they held a 7-2 shot advantage through the first 35 minutes of the game. The Tigers' best chances of the night came early in the game when senior Mandi Van Dorn (Danville, Calif.) worked her way free in front of the Anteaters' goal twice in a matter of minutes only to see her first shot saved by Danielle de Seriere and her second look at an open net squirt wide left.
The Anteaters would come on late in the first half to nearly even the shot total as the Tigers held a slight 8-7 advantage heading into the break. Senior Jaime Souza (Gig Harbor, Wash.) was up to the task in the first half as she produced five saves in the opening 45 minutes. Her counterpart, de Seriere, matched the total with five saves of her own.
In the second half it was more of the same for the Tigers as good chances became near misses. In the 56th minute, senior Carla Vellutini (Elk Grove, Calif.) sent a cross into the box only to see it skim off the post. On the scramble, Van Dorn had another crack at the goal only to see her third chance of the night glance off the crossbar and back into play.
All of the Tigers' missed opportunities would come back to haunt them in the 73rd minute when Frankee Kelly knocked home the Anteaters' first goal of the game to capture a 1-0 lead. Kelly was the recipient of a fortunate deflection off of a save from Souza who had stopped a point blank shot by Kim Horn. Horn had received a cross from the left side to the center of the box.
Kelly would find pay dirt for a second time just under five minutes later as she finished off a cross from Kim Conlan that was threaded through the Tigers' defense into the six yard box to the back post.
The loss dropped the Tigers into seventh place in the Big West Conference as the Anteaters leapfrogged Pacific with the win.
The Tigers will be back in action on Friday, October 26, as the bid farewell to their senior class of 2007 before taking on UC Santa Barbara in their home finale. The game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
