Sept. 18, 2009

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Sophomore Angelica Figueroa (Linden, Calif.) helped carry the Pacific women's soccer team to victory as they cruised past Fresno State 3-1 with a productive second half campaign led by Figueroa's two goals.

With the victory Pacific improved to 5-2-1 on the year, as Fresno State dropped to 1-6 on the season.

Figueroa struck the game-winning goal while the score was knotted at 1-1 entering the 52nd minute. Sophomore Kristina Wavomba (Encinitas, Calif.) gained possession of the ball and dribbled down Pacific's half of the pitch, until she found Figueroa on the right side of the goal. Less than five yards in front of the goal, Figueroa launched the ball into the back corner at 52:06 for the first of two times on the night to put Pacific ahead 2-1.

Pacific was not satisfied with its scoring opportunities at 2-1, coming up with another clutch goal in the 82nd minute. After a long throw-in from freshman Lauren Olvera (Whittier, Calif.) did not result in a goal, freshman Laura Hernandez (Seattle, Wash.) passed the ball to Figueroa on the left side of the net who slotted it in for the Tigers' third and final goal in the contest.

Earlier in the second half and less than a minute into the period, Figueroa tried for her first goal-producing effort of the night at 45:59. The sophomore took a shot in front goal, off Fresno State goalie Kaitlyn Revel, who dove to save the ball which died right in front of a wide open net. A Bulldog defender came in and cleared the ball out fractions of a second before freshman Maricela Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) could have a chance to score off her second shot of the game.

At 49:34, Padilla tried to make up for it with a go-ahead goal, when she shot from 40 yards out to the left of the goal and placed it right on line, before Revel snagged down one of her five saves in the match.

Up 2-1 in the 73rd minute, Figueroa drew a yellow card off Fresno State defender Katie Lee that gave way for a free kick off the right sideline. Figueroa found Hernandez on the left side of the goal and Hernandez headed the ball towards the net, but it was deflected by defender Kendall VanDine, resulting in a team save for Fresno State.

During the first half of the game, Pacific worked quickly and efficiently out of the gate, only needing two shots to get on the board at 3:26.

Sophomore Laura Hogan (Poway, Calif.) found Figueroa from 40 yards out in the middle of the pitch. Figueroa tapped to Padilla who scored from five yards out to the left giving the Tigers an early 1-0 victory that set the tone for the rest of the game.

At 11:07 Fresno State answered Pacific's goal with the equalizer when Callie Hancock crossed the ball towards teammate Claudia Cardenas in front of the goal, before deflecting off of a Tiger defender. Cardenas used the opportunity to find the back of the net from right in the middle of the goal to tie the game at 1-1.

The Tigers continued to play strong throughout the remainder of the half both on defense and offense. In the 33rd minute, Fresno State's Bianca Lopez looked for a shot from right side of the goal and lined up for it perfectly until sophomore Alex Topp (San Diego, Calif.) cleared the ball well out of play and disbanded the scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs to find the go-ahead goal.

With five minutes left on the clock in the first half, Padilla took a shot from the left side of the goal which was headed for the back of the net, if not for the deflection from Revel. The deflection resulted in a corner kick from freshman Kortney Agdeppa (Lodi, Calif.) on the right side to Hernandez in front of the net, who headed it high over the goal.

Pacific wrapped up the night out-shooting Fresno State 20 to five, with nine Pacific shots on goal to the Bulldogs' four. Padilla led all players with six shots of her own, resulting in three on goal. Junior goalie Jill Medigovich (San Diego, Calif.) finished with three saves after allowing the only goal in the in the 12th minute.

The Tigers next return to action on Sunday, Sept. 20, when they host San Francisco at 12 p.m. at Stagg Stadium.