STOCKTON, Calif. – Pacific (4-2-1) scored three unanswered first-half goals on its way to a 3-1 win over Southern Utah (0-3-4) Friday evening at Knoles Field. It was the fourth non-conference win of the season for the Tigers and improved the home mark to 3-0-1.
The Tiger program now has a streak of 14 consecutive non-conference home matches without a loss, dating back to the 2020 season, which was played in the spring of 2021. Pacific is 9-0-5 over that run.
"The positives are that we got back into Pacific soccer," said co-head coach
J.J. Wozniak. "It was a long five days on the road last week after an emotional win at Oregon State and a tough loss at New Mexico State. Tonight, we wanted to back into who we are, a very good possession-based team.
Pacific opened the scoring when sophomore
Haley Johnson found the back of the net off a corner kick in the 10
th minute for a 1-0 lead. It was Johnson's second goal of the season and the fifth of her career. Less than two minutes later fellow sophomore
Anaya Shelton tallied a goal for a 2-0 Pacific lead. It was also her second goal of 2023 and fifth of her career.
Freshman
Kaya Rosa scored her first goal of the season with less than two minutes to play in the half off an assist by senior
Taylor Curtis, giving a 3-0 edge that the Tigers would carry into intermission. The Tigers had a 15-2 edge in shots in the first half, including nine shots on goal compared to zero for the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds got on the board in the 61
st minute, cutting the Tiger lead to 3-1. Pacific finished the match with 21 shots, compared to five for Southern Utah.
Freshman
Libby Davy played in goal in the first half for the Tigers. Senior
Juliana Alexander saw her first action of the season in the net in the second half.
"We want to score goals and we got three in the first half," said co-head coach
Danesha Adams. "Even though we did not score in the second half, we have several good opportunities. It's hard to win Division I soccer games so we'll take this one and get ready for Sunday."
The Tigers travel to Sacramento State (2-3-1) for a 1 p.m. match Sunday before returning home to host Fresno State at 7 p.m. Thursday in the final nonconference home match.