UC Santa Cruz Wraps Up Weekend in St. Louis With a Win Against DePauw

Sunday, September 20

St. Louis, MO.

9:00 AM

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

3-3-0, 0-0-0

DePauw University

4-4-0, 0-0-0

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

UC Santa Cruz Wraps Up Weekend in St. Louis With a Win Against DePauw

9/20/2026 11:18:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

ST. LOUIS, MO – The UC Santa Cruz women's soccer team wrapped up their weekend over east in a 1-0 win against DePauw University. The only score of the game came from UCSC's Alex Freeman, who took used momentum from a free kick opportunity and shot attempt scramble by her teammates to send the ball through the open lane and into the net to score her first goal of the 2026 season. UC Santa Cruz outshot the Tigers 15-7 overall in the match, and Ainsley Gove scooped up the only shot attempt she faced in goal for the Slugs. Up next, UC Santa Cruz will travel to Jessup University to face the Warriors on Saturday, Sept. 26th at 12:00pm.

How It Happened
The opening minutes were evenly split amongst the two teams in terms of possession and advantage opportunities with both teams trying to settle into the match. UC Santa Cruz broke through in the 15th minute of the game to take the first shot, forcing a save by DePauw on the shot from Susanaitzel Juarez-Mancera. DePauw shortly responded with their first shot attempt of the game in the 17th minute but missed right and did not force a save. Juarez-Mancera kicked another shot on goal in the 21st minute to force another save on her attempt. The Banana Slugs kept their foot on the gas, taking additional shot attempts in the half from Amelia Fung, Sharon Alcocer, and Alexandra Torres. UCSC finished the half outshooting the Tigers 6-3.

UC Santa Cruz opened the second half with the same tenacity and intensity of the first half and took their first shot attempt just over three minutes into the half by Erin Freeman. Additional shots from Amaya Espardinez, Fung, and Alex Freeman kept constant pressure on the Tigers. With the possession primarily with the Banana Slugs, the game started to get increasingly physical as DePauw drew a yellow card in the 54th minute. UCSC remained poised and focused while they hunted to put one of their attempts into the net. After a free kick and a shot attempt by Kirsten Li, Alex Freeman took advantage of the scramble opportunity a shot one through to score for UCSC in the 61st minute. UC Santa Cruz finished out the game taking three more shot attempts, but they only needed the one score to secure the win. Gove scooped up a save in the final two minutes of the game to help the Banana Slugs keep DePauw's last-chance efforts under control while collecting her only save of the night.