Lady Mustangs Shut Out Visiting Sunbirds
The Master's College women's soccer team beat Fresno
Pacific in a dominating fashion Tuesday afternoon by a score of
4-0. The strong effort from Master's puts their record at 9-6 (3-3)
and drops Fresno's record to 5-6 (1-5).
The first half of Tuesday's game was fairly even for the
first 15 minutes. Each team had a few opportunities to net
goals but neither could take advantage.
Master's had great defensive pressure which limited the
opportunities for Fresno, and coupled with a great first half
effort from Ilyssa Espiritu, the home team was in control.
TMC's offense came ready to play as well. There
was constant pressure on the Sunbird defense. The Lady
Mustangs got on the board first with a goal in the 20th minute.
Rachel Hartenberger picked up a loose ball and shot it under
the oncoming goalie to put the Lady Mustangs in the lead. The
Lady Mustangs went into half with a 1-0 lead.
The start of the second half featured more of the same
from the Lady Mustangs as they came out firing on offense and
defense once again. TMC connected well on passes the entire
half and played great as a team the entire half.
In the 60th minute Bobbie Roberts had a great assist
from the left side. Roberts crossed it to the middle of the
box, and Alyssa Adkins immediately found the back of the goal to
double the Lady Mustangs lead at 2-0.
Not long after that, in the 67th minute, the same duo of
Mustangs combined to put another goal on the board. This time
it was Adkins with the assist and Roberts who had a perfectly
placed shot from 30 yards out to extend the lead to
3-0.
The Mustangs had one more goal in store. In the
final minute of the game, Rachel Hartenberger passed the ball to
Sarah Hall who took a few touches and found the back of the net for
the final margin of 4-0.
This was one of TMC's best offensive performances of the
year, and it came when they needed it most. This win draws
them back to an even 3-3 mark in conference which puts them right
back in the thick of things in the conference race.
TMC got a chance to play most of their roster which was
a welcomed sight for Coach Lewis. "Our starters determined
before the game to get our reserves in today which says a lot about
the character of our team," said Coach Lewis.
"I feel like we got over the hump of having great
offensive games without scoring by putting the ball in the back of
the net today," said Coach Lewis of his teams output.
Coach Lewis's squad played stifling defense in the
second half by limiting Fresno to one shot on goal. Espiritu
recorded her third shutout of the season.
The Lady Mustangs will now travel to Irvine to face No.
16 Concordia on Saturday.
