The UC Irvine Women’s Soccer team (6-3-6, 2-0-5) defeated the CSU Northridge Matadors (2-14-1, 0-7-1), 1-0, in a conference match up at the Anteater Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 13.
The Anteaters came out strong right off the bat with aggressive offense to put pressure on the Matadors. Despite some great drives by both teams, the ‘Eaters and the Matadors remained scoreless in the first half.
After regrouping at halftime, the Anteaters wasted no time entering the second half with heavy action.
With 27 seconds into the second half, a drive by UCI redshirt sophomore forward Alyssa Moore resulted in a painful collision with Matador freshman goalkeeper Hayden Mauldin at the CSUN touchline. She stepped off the field momentarily after this injury but still insisted on resuming the game. With that, the game carried on.
As the match continued, the Anteater offense refused to hold back. Moore stepped up once again and scored inside the right post, thanks to a beautiful through ball from redshirt freshman midfielder Aislynn Crowder. This gave UCI the lead over CSUN just 47 seconds into the second half, making the score 1-0.
Showcasing their dominance on the field, the ‘Eaters maintained a strong defense against several shot attempts made by the Matadors throughout the half. UCI redshirt junior goalkeeper Glo Hinojosa stopped six total shots on goal.
Regardless of the effort made by the Matadors, the Anteater defense rose to the occasion with another shutout. With a score of 1-0 to end the night, UCI earned their second Big West win.
Looking ahead at their Big West competition, the UC Irvine Women’s Soccer team will strive to defeat UC Santa Barbara in their next game at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, CA at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Leila Amiri is a Sports Staff Writer for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at amiril@uci.edu.
