UCI Women’s soccer lost their second away game of the season 2-0 to Washington State University on Aug 27.
The ‘Eaters entered the match 0-1-1 following a demanding battle against No. 1 Stanford the previous week. Washington State, which was further into their season, entered 2-2-1.
Not too long after kickoff, the first of what would be a long exchange of scoring attempts and close calls for both teams began.
In the eighth minute, junior forward Clara Samson intercepted a pass along the sideline and cut toward the middle. Her sideways shot was blocked by the dive of WSU senior defender Makena Smith. Only seven minutes later, WSU almost found themselves taking a penalty kick. Following a Cougar corner kick, a series of close-quarters shots were made on goal, and WSU senior Riley Carolan went down after a mid-air joust with some ‘Eaters defenders. Ultimately, the refs upheld their decision, and play continued.
The skirmishing continued through halftime, with a particularly messy last minute. Both teams, presumably attempting to eke out a last-second goal before the break, played viciously. A UCI midfielder was tackled from behind while receiving a pass, and the WSU crowd audibly roared in protest when the subsequent free kick fired into the face of a WSU player who stood not ten feet from where it was taken. At the halftime whistle though, neither team had any goals to show for their attacks.
As a matter of fact, the scoreboard didn’t have anything to show for the valiant efforts of either team until the 84th minute.
The moment came when overtime looked almost inevitable. The teams were going blow for blow, and possession was evenly split. UCI goalkeeper, senior Savanna Arruda, hurled the ball out from the goal in what looked like the beginning of another UCI possession. After a pass upfield bounced too high and fell at the feet of the Cougars, the tide changed. The ball ended up on the side of the field, where another long pass dropped right in front of the penalty box and WSU senior forward Lexi Lee. She took her shot immediately, and the ball rocketed just to Arruda’s left inside the far post.
The ‘Eaters played an energetic five minutes of soccer afterwards, but couldn’t manage to turn up a goal. Another play went to referee review in the 86th minute after a UCI throw-in and chaos in the six-yard box. WSU pressed for a handball call after Samson appeared to clip it mid-fall.
No handball was issued, and UCI remained stuck further from the Cougars’ net for the rest of the game.
The last goal of the game came in its last 50 seconds. UCI pushed its entire line up almost to midfield, which came back to bite them when WSU wrangled the ball away from them following a sideline throw-in and essentially punted the ball back towards UCI’s goal. Freshman forward Delaney Hawkins turned on her jets. She got in front, received the ball inside her defender and cut into the middle of the penalty box, taking the shot right inside the line. Her shot was a hard left-footed shot to the low left of the box. For being ambushed with a 1v1, Arruda responded incredibly well. She was centered and in a good position to make her move quickly. Unfortunately, Hawkins forced Arruda’s momentum rightward as she ran, then curved it completely to Arruda’s left. Arruda’s jump was impressively fast and completely sideways. Hawkins’ shot simply had physics on its side.
With 50 seconds left, the game effectively ended with WSU’s second goal.
Despite their loss, UCI Women’s soccer remained an incredibly clean and tactical team who played the long game and capitalized off of WSU’s frustration. The ‘Eaters totalled only 6 fouls the whole game, but drew 14 from the Cougars. It’s not every day that such a level of patience is present in a team, particularly one so young as UCI.
The ‘Eaters’ next game will be Sunday, Aug. 30, when they face Grand Canyon University at home. Kickoff is at 1p.m. PST on the field of Anteater Stadium, and the match will be streamed on ESPN+.
Cora Reyes-Castelloe is a Sports Intern for the summer 2026 quarter. She can be reached at clreyesc@uci.edu.
Edited by Melissa Hernandez and Tracy Sandoval.
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