The Corban University Women's Soccer team (1-0, 0-0) took the field for their first regular season contest on Corban's campus in nearly four years, earning a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Christian University Firestorm (0-1, 0-0) in front of the Warrior faithful.
"Today's victory was definitely a full team effort," Corban Head Coach Whitney Pitalo shared following the match. "Three goals from three different players will always put us in a position to come out with a win, and I'm proud of the players that stepped up after a few preseason injuries sidelined some of their teammates."
The Warriors wasted zero time earning their first score of the 2022 season, as junior defender Jamine Biava ran wickets right through the ACU defensive line, sliding the ball right by the outstretched arms of Firestorm goalkeeper Jennifer Sanchez with just two minutes and 33 seconds taken off the clock.
Arizona Christian didn't take long to answer the Warriors, scoring in the 30th minute off the boot of forward Isabelle Cruz, who was assisted on the play by midfielder Miranda Castro.
A tied contest just didn't sit right with the Navy & Gold, as they bested their original time for "kickoff to goal" by needing just 63 seconds this time following the Firestorms first score. Biava sent a soaring free kick from Corban territory to a one-on-one scenario with sophomore forward Makali Nance, who beat her defender off the bounce to slip one under Sanchez' reach, thus putting the Warriors back in front, 2-1.
A halftime break is exactly what the Warriors needed to sway the back-and-forth energy back in their favor, as senior midfielder Aubrey Smith caught a beautiful feed from junior defender Abbygail Furrow with her matched defender caught napping, curving a shot around Sanchez to scoring the Warriors' third goal of the afternoon in the 51st minute.
ACU was able to answer in the 69th minute on an unassisted breakaway from midfielder Cameron Mercado, out-speeding Warriors' goalkeeper Makida Herbert to the ball, and hitting the back-right corner of the net to put the Firestorm to within a goal.
However, it proved to be too little too late for Arizona Christian, as Corban was able to run the ball out and keep the Firestorm at distance for the next 21 minutes of play to allow the Warriors to walk off their home field with a day one victory.
Herbert (1-0) picks up the victory after collecting seven saves and allowing two goals to earn her first win of the season, while Sanchez (0-1) will take the loss on her overall record while picking up five saves and seeing three goals fall into the back of her team's net.
Arizona Christian was able to outshoot Corban in the contest 14-11, with 10 of those 14 shots coming in the second half. The Firestorm also committed considerably more fouls than the Warriors, being called on by the officials 13 times to Corban's eight.
Corban will be back in action next week, as they travel to meet with NCAA DIII Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, with the preseason matchup between the Warriors and Boxers slated for a 6:30pm (PT) start time.
Original source can be found here.
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