UC Irvine Women’s Soccer secured its first home conference win of the season against Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Anteater Stadium, defeating them 2-0. Goals from junior midfielder Chifumi Sasaki and sophomore midfielder/defender Mimi Yamamoto in the second half led the Anteaters to their second conference win of the season.
The match opened with UC Irvine’s fifth-year goalkeeper Savanna Arruda and Bakersfield’s redshirt senior goalkeeper Allanah Blye in the goalie goal. There was a lot of movement on the field, with both teams committing several fouls as they battled for possession and field position.
Around the eight-minute-mark, a foul was called on Roadrunner redshirt sophomore midfielder Jaiden Gore. He was the second player on Bakersfield at risk of being carded. Anteater sophomore forward Fiona Shin took a shot, also going out right. A foul was called on CSUB’s junior forward Daniela Osejo, then on UCI’s junior defender Hailey Clingan and Shin. More fouls were received in the next few minutes of the match. Gore took a shot, but Arruda saved it. UCI junior forward/midfielder Ariane Haysman Boaler took a shot unsuccessfully, and it went out left. UCI subbed in sophomore midfielder Malaina Duro for sophomore defender Jasmyne Wheeler, and CSUB subbed junior defender Mia Gonzalez for sophomore defender Emma Hughes. Around the 30-minute-mark, CSUB redshirt sophomore defender Denise Pugh received a yellow card.
UCI subbed Sasaki in for sophomore forward Oona Hartman, then subbed in fifth-year forward Jenika Davis and freshman forward Olivia Stark, keeping the players in consistent rotation. CSUB junior forward CJ Walters made a shot, but Arruda saved it.
At the top of the second half, Roadrunner redshirt junior midfielder Leslie Duarte unsuccessfully made a shot, going out top right. Wheeler made a shot, but Blye blocked it. Shortly after, Sasaki scored a goal, with an assist from Wheeler bringing the score to 1-0 in UC Irvine’s favor. Blye saved another shot from Sasaki, and CSUB’s junior defender Allison Dennett made an unsuccessful shot, going out top. Osejo received a yellow card ten minutes into the second half — making it the Roadrunner’s second.
UCI’s junior midfielder/forward Mimi Dominguez made two unsuccessful shots before Yamamoto made the second UCI goal, bringing the score to 2-0, the final score of the match. Both Arruda and Blye had multiple saves in the last thirty minutes of the game, preventing either team from advancing in their score, despite attempts from Gore, Hartman and UCI freshman forward/midfielder Isabella Meric. In the last three minutes of the game, the Anteaters made three corner kicks — none of which resulted in a goal despite Yamamoto’s efforts.
This win brings the Anteaters to 3-3-3 overall as they continue their conference play. UCI will return to the Anteater Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 30 to face Utah Valley. The match will be available to stream live on ESPN+.
Milo Cramer is a Sports Staff Writer. They can be reached at mncramer@uci.edu.
Edited by Melissa Hernandez.
Milo Cramer is a drama major, literary journalism minor at UC Irvine. He's a sports staff writer for New University, and he hopes to pursue writing as a career on the side of acting in live theatre.