Jimmy Lai/HIGHLANDER
Jimmy Lai/HIGHLANDER

October 9, 2015

Highlanders 2 – Rainbow Warriors 1

On Friday, October 9, the UC Riverside women’s soccer team faced off against the University of Hawai’i in their second inter-conference match of the year. In looking to respond to a loss against UC Irvine in their first conference match, the Highlanders dominated most of the game, pushing the pace against Hawai’i and maintaining strong defense throughout to yield a 2-1 win.

In the first three minutes of the game, Riverside midfielder Lockett Tatum made a goal via free kick, putting the Highlanders up 1-0. Riverside’s next goal came from forward Tyler Cunningham who received an elegant pass from Lopez to knock it into the far right post.

Hawai’i scored a goal soon after, with defender Lidia Battaglia getting the better of a free kick.

The game itself was pretty frantic, with Riverside pushing the pace and keeping the pressure on Hawaii’s side. however they were still was able to earn six corner kicks on the evening. Overall, the Highlanders’ forwards showed plenty of speed and athleticism and were able to capitalize on a lack of power coming from Hawaii’s back. The ball control was never particularly consistent, and there were tense moments throughout the match that showed Hawai’i was still applying pressure. For example, toward the last five minutes a free kick was awarded to Hawai’i that could have tied the match, but it was just high off the bar.

As of now, the women’s team is on the right side of .500 with a 7-6 record. Head coach Nat Gonzalez was very happy with the result, but felt that the Highlanders’ could have played more aggressively and earned a more decisive victory. The game was quite physical, with one UCR player getting a yellow card, but overall the Highlanders played a tough game, and were able to clinch the win.

“We played the first thirty minutes very strong,” said Gonzalez, “and then I felt like we kind of dropped off and stayed to their level.” The win was expected to be much less hard-fought than it was for the blue and gold, given that Hawai’i currently sits at the bottom of the Big West conference rankings while UCR is ranked 6th among conference teams.

As for what the team can specifically improve upon, “We just need to get the ball on the floor and keep attacking,” said Gonzalez, “this game, for me, was a little too frantic across the whole field.”

The Highlanders continued to build momentum in conference play on Sunday, October 11 as they topped UC Davis, 3-1 led by two goals from forward Tyler Cunningham. The wins this week put UCR’s conference record at 2-1 thus far with an 8-6 record overall — already matching their win total from last season. They’ll look to earn their ninth on Friday, October 16 as they go on the road to face the Big West’s second-ranked team in Long Beach State.