Late Goal by Espardinez Solidifies First Win of the 2026 Season

Thursday, September 10

Redlands, CA

7:00 PM

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

1-2-0

University of Redlands

1-3-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UC Santa Cruz	0	1	1
Redlands	0	0	0

Late Goal by Espardinez Solidifies First Win of the 2026 Season

9/10/2026 9:24:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

REDLANDS, Calif – The UC Santa Cruz women's soccer team found the back of the net late in the game to collect their first win of the 2026 season in their weekday matchup against University of Redlands. Susanaitzel Juarez-Mancera for the had an active performance on offense to lead the Banana Slugs, including her free kick and shot attempt to set her teammate Amaya Espardinez up for success. After Juarez-Mancera's shot got away from Redland's goalie, Espardinez was in perfect position to send in the only goal of the contest in the 83rd minute. UCSC now holds a 1-2 record and will next face University of La Verne on the road on Sept. 12th at 11:00am.

How It Happened
After a slow open to the match, UCSC's Juarez-Mancera took the first shot in the 13th minute followed immediately by a Banana Slug corner kick to continue to put the pressure on the Bulldog's defense. Another shot by Juarez-Mancera ended UCSC's run of attacks. Redlands responded with three consecutive shots in the 15th minute including one on goal, but Ainsley Gove scooped up the save for the Banana Slugs. With shots beginning to fire, Erin Freeman swung momentum back to UC Santa Cruz with back-to-back shots on goal in the 18th minute to give the Banana Slugs a solid offensive push. Both teams settled in for just under ten minutes before Redlands kicked three consecutive shots in the 27th minute, earning two more saves for Gove in the net. The two teams took another break from shots after a Juarez-Mancera header missed left. In the final two minutes of the half, UC Santa Cruz put up two shots and forced a corner with three seconds left in the half but ultimately did not have enough time to get a clean shot for a last chance offensive effort. The scoreless half ended with the Banana Slugs leading 10-7 in shots and 3-0 on corner kicks.

UC Santa Cruz came out aggressive to open the second half, and pressed immediate pressure on Redlands with two shots recorded less than a full minute into the half. UCSC continued to push offensively with a duo of shots in the 53rd minute, then followed by a trio less than three minutes later. After a long tenure on offense for UCSC, Gove earned her fourth save on Redland's first shot of the half in the 57th minute followed by a near miss off the goalpost for the Bulldogs. Redlands continued to attack Gove in the net, but she remained a wall to earn her fifth save in the 67th minute. UCSC and Redlands alternated shot attempts for the next eight minutes as both teams prepared to make an end-of-game push. Juarez-Mancera almost sent a free kick into the net during the 83rd minute, but a bobble by Redland's goalie gave Espardinez an open lane to send in the only goal of the night. The Bulldogs raced for time to try to tie things up, including a shot attempt with only seconds remaining, but Gove remained strong in the goal to finish with six saves on the night. The Banana Slugs finished the contest with a 23-13 shot advantage.