Aug. 31, 2007
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - In front of a record crowd of 1,133, the Pacific women's soccer team routed Mount St. Mary's, 6-0, to open the 2007 season on Friday, August 31. The shutout marked the third straight season in which Pacific has notched a clean sheet to begin the year.
From the opening whistle the Tigers controlled the play and the pace of the game, but throughout the first half struggled to cash in on their advantage. Outshooting the Mount 7-1 in the opening half, the Tigers finally were able to break through for the first goal of the contest in the 45th minute of action when junior Laura King (Livermore, Calif.) found the back of the net from nearly 35 yards out. Racing down the middle of the field unchecked, King spotted a scoring opportunity and fired a well placed, long range chip shot over the top of the outstretched hands of Anna Lebo, Mount St. Mary's starting 'keeper.
With the first score out of the way, the Tigers opened the flood gates in the second half, pouring in five goals in the final 45:00 minutes, one short of their program high of six goals in a single half.
Pouring it on in the second half, senior Mandi Van Dorn (Danville, Calif.), Pacific's 2006 scoring leader, wasted no time getting onto the score sheet in 2007 as she put the Tigers up 2-0, with a volley in the 65th minute. Van Dorn's strike was the culmination of a double assist that began with a flip throw-in from King to senior Natalie McCrackin (Rio Linda, Calif.) who flicked the ball to Van Dorn's foot.
Just eight minutes later, Van Dorn notched her second strike of the contest with a strike to the upper left corner of the goal from well beyond the 18 to put Pacific up three. Van Dorn's goal was courtesy of senior Jaime Souza (Gig Harbor, Wash.) who initiated the Tigers' quick counter attack with a deep throw to Van Dorn on the wing from her goalie box. With the ball at her feet, Van Dorn did not hesitate to finish the play. The assist was Souza's third career assist as she notched one in each of the last two season's coming into 2007.
Up by three the Tigers were only half way through with their scoring barrage as three more Pacific players got into the attack. In the 75th minute, McCrackin posted her first goal of the season with a shot that beat Lebo to her right. McCrackin was the beneficiary of a slotted pass into the middle of the box by freshman Sammi Teramae (Kapolei, Hawaii) who earned her first career collegiate points with the assist.
With her first career assist out of the way, Teramae checked her first career goal off of the list in the 87th minute when she took a misplayed goal kick up the middle right back into the box and placing a shot past Lebo for Pacific's fifth strike of the night. Not finished with her collegiate debut, Teramae picked up her fourth point of the night in the 88th minute of play when she dropped off the ball towards the back post to senior Carla Vellutini (Elk Grove, Calif.) who calmly slotted home the Tigers' final goal of the night.
In goal, Souza produced four saves on five Mount St. Mary's shots as she notched her 15 career shutout. Souza now sits just one shutout back of Megan Pickering (1999-02) for second on the Tigers' all-time shutouts list as Pickering finished her stellar collegiate career with 16 shutouts.
On the other end, Lebo tallied eight saves on the night as the Tigers fired off 22 shots with 15 coming in the second half.
Pacific's 6-0 win tied for the largest opening game win for the Tigers in school history, tying with the 1997 team that opened the year with a 6-0 win over UC Santa Cruz.
Friday night's game marked the first time Mount St, Mary's has played a game in the state of California.
Pacific will be back in action on Sunday, September 2, as they play host to Kent State at Stagg Memorial Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
