SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – On a rainy Santa Cruz morning at the Lower East Field,
Cadence Fisher recorded a brace to lift UC Santa Cruz women's soccer past the La Verne Leopards in a 2-0 Senior Day victory. Fisher scored in the 6th and 8th minute to put UCSC in the driver seat and the Banana Slugs never looked back as they outshot ULV 18-5 with 14 shots on goal to La Verne's four. With the win, the Banana Slugs are now 4-7-2 on the year and they'll take on Fresno Pacific for the regular season finale on Oct. 29 at 3:00 p.m. in Fresno, Ca.
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs wasted no time getting to work as
Cadence Fisher took the game's first shot just 15 seconds after the opening whistle. Fisher later struck the back of the net as
Sydney Boyd sent a long free kick into the box before Fisher slotted it past the keeper for the 1-0 lead just 5:05 into the game. Just over two minutes later,
Cassidy Segrell sent a ball across the box for
Cadence Fisher who sent a shot on the ground that got deflected off a Leopard, sending it up and over the keeper and into the back of the net for Fisher's second goal in just a two minute and 29 second span.
La Verne was able to counter for a brief moment as they put a shot on goal in the 18th minute, but
Ainsley Gove was there to make the save. The rainy conditions impacted both teams with possession becoming hard to hold on to. The Banana Slugs controlled the action outshot ULV 2-1 for the rest of the half, taking their 2-0 lead into the halftime break.
Out of the break, the Banana Slugs came out swinging, rattling off four straight shots on goal but the Leopards keeper was solid in the cage, making four saves to keep the UCSC lead at 2-0. The Leopards countered with two shots on goal of their own, but
Ainsley Gove was there once again to make the saves. The intensity picked up for the final 30 minutes of action but UCSC smothered the Leopards attack, not letting them take another shot in the contest while the Banana Slugs took nine more shots. Despite the heavy offensive pressure from UCSC, the 2-0 lead held the rest of the way as the Slugs earned the 2-0 senior day victory.
