Sept. 5, 2009

Box Score

Waipahu, Hawaii - Despite an aggressive first half attack, a yellow card in favor of UAB handed a 2-1 loss to the Pacific women's soccer team.

After the loss, the Tigers dropped to 2-2 on the year, while UAB remains undefeated at 6-0.

At 24:10, a yellow card was issued to UAB's Tiffani Turpin, when she knocked Angelica Figueroa (Linden, Calif.) to the ground on defense. The card then resulted in in a free kick for Figueroa in front of UAB's wall, as she tapped the ball behind her to Maricela Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) who launched it to Blankenship's left and found the corner of the net. Not only did the Tigers capitalize on the yellow card, but Padilla also landed her first collegiate goal and gave Figueroa her team-leading third assist of 2009. The goal put Pacific up 1-0, solidifying the Tigers' aggressive first-half attack in which they out-shot UAB 10 shots to two.

However, with 19 minutes remaining in the match, the Blazers responded with a free kick from 30 yards out, off a Tiger yellow card when Emily Sinovich struck the equalizer, tying the game at 1-1. In the next 40 seconds Marie Yempuku found the ball amidst a scramble near the goal and shot it to Jill Medigovich's (San Diego, Calif.) right, finding the bottom corner of the net to flip the lead and give the Blazers a 2-1 advantage.

Down to the final five minutes of the game, Hawaii-native Chyanne Alejado (Kapolei, Hawaii) tried for a straight-on shot in front of the goal after a corner from Padilla, but goalie Kate Blankenship snagged down one of her five saves in the contest.

Earlier in the game, only :42 second in, Alex Topp (San Diego, Calif.) powered towards the goal on a throw in from Lauren Olvera (Whittier, Calif.) to start things off, as Pacific kept the ball on its offensive third for the majority of the first half.

At 2:39 in the game, Natalie Wong (Mililani, Hawaii) headed a ball towards the middle, to a sprinting Padilla, who attempted to launch the ball into UAB's goal.  However, Blakenship would put stop to the Tigers' attack attempt as she came out of her box to take the ball away from Padilla before a shot could be put on goal.

Pacific's next chance came in the eighth minute of the first half, when Kortney Agdeppa (Lodi, Calif.) found Topp off a corner kick from the left side of the pitch. Topp's shot found Blankenship to give her another save at 7:46.  She would put up another shot on goal just six seconds later only to see Blankenship pick up yet another save.

In the next two possessions for the Tigers, two back-to-back offsides calls took the ball away from Pacific, breaking off one-on-one scoring opportunities. Pacific pushed the ball back up the field, still keeping UAB from taking a shot over 12 minutes into the game.

In spite of the two goals allowed, the Tigers outshot UAB 14 shot to seven, with six Pacific shots on goal to the Blazers' two. Blankenship led both 'keepers with five saves in the game.

Pacific next returns to action for its final game in Hawaii, when the Tigers take on tournament host Hawai'i at 8 p.m. PT (5 p.m. HT) on Sunday, September 6.