Oct. 5, 2007
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific soccer team dropped a heartbreaker to Long Beach State, 3-2, to open Big West Conference play on Friday, October 5. With the loss the Tigers fell to 5-4-2 overall and 0-1-0 in the conference while the 49ers improved to 8-4-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the Big West.
The Tigers bid for an upset of the defending Big West champion 49ers started well with Pacific jumping out front first with their first goal in three games in the 29th minute.
With Long Beach threatening the Tigers' defense down inside the 18, a would be cross from the 49ers was cleared out of danger by junior Andrea Carrara (Belmont, Calif.) to the center of the field. With the ball bouncing free and a slip by the 49ers' wing defender, senior Bunny Dickson (Millbrae, Calif.) swooped underneath the clearance and headed it into space for senior Mandi Van Dorn (Danville, Calif.) who slipped through the 49er defense. Free with a breakaway, Van Dorn finished the play off with a low ball past Liz Ramos, Long Beach State's netminder, for the first score of the game. Van Dorn's goal snapped a seven game scoreless streak and gave the senior forward her fourth goal of the game and 19th career strike. The assist was Dickson's second of the season.
Up one score, Pacific continued to press the action, firing off seven first half shots to just three from Long Beach State. However, the 49ers put to good use their three shots in the half, finding the back of the net with their third and final shot of the opening 45 minutes. Once again, a cross through the box was cleared out wide by the Tigers' defense, yet this time, instead of setting up a Pacific goal it found the foot of Cat Grey. About 30 yards out, Grey took a swing at the bounding ball and hit a perfectly bent shot to the top left corner of the net, tying the score at 1-1 with just over five minutes to play in the half. The goal was Grey's first career goal.
With the game looking as though it would go to the half tied at one, Pacific struck back to recapture the game's momentum and lead. With just :45 seconds left to play in the opening half, junior Laura King (Livermore, Calif.) found herself on the end of a long free kick into the box from senior Montez Harrison (Oakland, Calif.). Harrison took the free kick from just behind the center line of the field and drilled a ball into the six of the 49ers to the awaiting foot of King. King took a swinging volley at the ball, putting the go ahead strike over Ramos and just under the crossbar for her second goal of the year. The assist was Harrison's first of the year.
After taking the one goal lead into the break the Tigers came out running in the second half looking for more. But, with the Tigers pushing forward the 49ers found their opportunity to counter as they pushed back up the left side of the field on a counter for their own scoring chance just four minutes into the new half. With the ball at the left corner of the 18, Kristen Kiefer and Sahar Haghdan executed a give and go the resulted in Kiefer behind the Tigers' defense. With a 1v1 with senior Jaime Souza (Gig Harbor, Wash.), Kiefer finished the play with her conference leading sixth goal of the season to knot the game at two goals a piece.
The game would remain tied until the 78th minute when the 49ers would break the tie with their third strike of the contest. Haley Bolt initiated the goal with a throw-in deep in Tiger territory that squirted its way through five different players in the box before coming to rest with Katelyn Quaresma. Quaresma recognized her opportunity and placed her shot past Souza who dove to her left when she saw the ball come free into her six.
On the night, both sides played even with 11 shots each while both Souza and Ramos each produced five saves. Senior Alisha Bledsoe (Valley Springs, Calif.) produced a team save for the Tigers when she cleared a ball off the line on a shot by Kiefer in the 87th minute that bounced over Souza who had come out to contest Kiefer's shot.
The Tigers will be back in action on Sunday, October 7, as they host Cal State Northridge in Big West Conference play at Stagg Memorial Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
