Sept. 20, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - After drawing 1-1 double-overtime tie against San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 20, the Pacific women's soccer team now has gone five-straight matches without recording a loss.
After the tie Pacific moved to 5-2-2 on the year, while USF's record continued to 4-1-4.
As they've been doing consistently all season, the Pacific women's soccer team quickly got on board first in just the fourth minute of the game.
At 3:17, the tandem of freshman Maricela Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore Angelica Figueroa (Linden, Calif.) did what they've been doing well all season long. Padilla netted the sixth goal of her freshman campaign after Figueroa weaved her way through the defense in the middle of the pitch up towards Padilla who was camped out by the right post. Padilla then sprinted towards the middle, received the pass from Figueroa and made the goal off her first shot of the afternoon from one yard out. That put Pacific up 1-0 early in the contest, for the Tigers' only goal of the afternoon.
In the 22nd minute, the Tigers got another look when they regained possession after a foul called on San Francisco. Just before the 22 minute mark, Figueroa and sophomore Kristina Wavomba (Encinitas, Calif.) rattled the ball back and forth, before a header by Wavomba found freshman Kortney Agdeppa (Lodi, Calif.). Agdeppa swung for a shot at 22:01, but the ball soared high and out of play. In the 25th minute, Pacific retained possession when a long throw-in from freshman Lauren Olvera (Whittier, Calif.) found junior Natalie Wong (Mililani, Calif.) who turned to receive the throw-in. However, the toss hit Wong's shoulder and bounced towards the net, before goalie Kelly Phole grabbed it down.
That concluded Pacific's chances in the first half, keeping the Dons scoreless as Pacific held a 1-0 advantage entering the break.
During the first five minutes of the second stanza, Wavomba stood to the right side of the post and took a header shot towards the goal. The shot deflected off the post and into the box as Phole dove to snag it quickly, doing damage control before the ball could cross the line and turn into a goal for the Tigers.
USF used the momentum on defense and played strong throughout the second half as the Dons were rewarded with the equalizer at 53:45. After the play from a free kick fizzled out, Ashlyn Mazur tapped the ball from the right side of the goal to teammate Megan Connor in the middle of the box. Connor struck a floater over junior goalie Jill Medigovich's (San Diego, Calif.) head and into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
Pacific tried to retaliate in the 70th minute when Padilla looked up the pitch and crossed to Wavomba who stood in front of the goal. Wavomba tapped the ball towards the goal and it rattled around the front box before Phole dove down and snagged it for her second save of the afternoon.
At 78:20, San Francisco answered back on its half of the pitch, looking for its own go-ahead goal. Molly Hall took a huge shot from six yards to the right of the goal that would have eventually found the back of the net if not for Agdeppa. The freshman stood as a barrier to the goal right on the line and came up with a header to clear the ball out of play before it could cross the line.
Pacific was able to then draw a sigh of relief and regain possession before taking two more shots with one on goal in the final minutes of the regulation period.
Both overtime periods came and went quietly for both squads, until the final minute of the second overtime period. Padilla controlled the ball again and passed to freshman Sarah Grable (Chula Vista, Calif.), who took a shot from 15 yards out that deflected off a USF defender. San Francisco ran down the clock in the final minute of play, drawing the tie in double overtime.
Wavomba led Pacific in the contest with three shots and two on goal, as Padilla notched Pacific's only goal with Figueroa on the assist. Medigovich grabbed one save in goal and allowed one through.
Pacific returns to action on Friday, Sept. 25, when they host Pacific-10 opponents and 2007 national champion USC. Gametime is set for 7 p.m. at Stagg Stadium.
