October 13, 2006

UCSC Women's Soccer Comes Out on Top

It was an extremely physical battle between the UC Santa Cruz (12-0-3) and Menlo College (8-5-1) Women's soccer teams today. The forward line, consisting of Alec Drew, Danielle Mullen, and Annick Lamb, affectively applied high pressure to the Menlo defense in the first half. Midfielder Karli Cowman was able to capitilize on a turnover. She collected the ball and combined with Didi Ramirez for a quick wall pass. Cowman ripped a shot first time into the top left hand corner from the top of the 18-yard box with her right foot to score the first goal of the match in the fourteen minute.

Menlo served an onslaught of shots in the beginning of he second half putting the Lady Slugs under a lot of pressure. But it was the UCSC center backs Shelby Stillians and Megan Cox who demonstrated great leadership controlling the back line and winning many 50/50 battles in their defensive third.

In last season's match-up, UCSC was up 1-0 when Menlo scored in the 89th minute and then again in overtime for a heartbreaking loss. Now a sophomore, UCSC leading scorer Annick Lamb wasn't going to let this happen again. With thirty seconds left in the game, Annick used some fancy footwork to get around defenders and create some space at the top of the box. She cut the ball with her right and lofted an unbelievable left footed shot into the left corner upper V for the second game in a row.

Junior keeper Katie Loomis had a standout performance today also recording her 11th shutout of the season. She came up big, making numerous key saves from Menlo shots, set pieces, and corner kicks.

The Lady Slugs will take the week to prepare for their next big challenge this weekend on the road versus Cal Lutheran. This contest will take place in Thousand Oaks on Sunday, October 22nd at 1 pm.