This block break had its ups and downs for the women’s soccer team. The Tigers played two home games on Sept. 18 and 20.. The team started off strong with a victory against CSU-Bakersfield. The win broke a six-match winless streak for the Tigers.
The star of the game was freshman midfielder Lauren Milliett. She scored the first goal of the game less than five minutes in with an assist from senior midfielder Sarah Schweiss. The game went into halftime with CC in the lead 1-0. This was the fourth consecutive game where CC held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first half. But this time, CC maintained their game into the second half.
“Our team has really been working on stringing together a full 90 minutes, since we normally win the first half and concede most of our goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. I think if we do this, we will win so many more games,” said first-year midfielder Madison Tominello.
CSU-Bakersfield tied up the score early in the second half. It was the only shot on goal that CSU-Bakersfield had for the entire 90 minutes, thanks to the Tigers’ defense.
With the defensive side of the equation in hand, the Tigers’ offense fought back and reclaimed their lead in the 59 minute when Milliett slotted home a header off a corner kick taken by Tominello. It was Tominello’s first career assist. Milliett is now leading the Tigers this season with three goals.
The game ended with a CC victory by a tally of 2-1. CC dominated the shooting attempts with 15 compared to CSU Bakersfield’s six.
“This game was different because we came out with a more intense energy and passion to win,” said Tominello. “I think that we have become fed up with losing, so [against CSU-Bakersfield] we really did whatever it took in order to win.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Louisa Mackenzie seems to agree with Tominello that the CSU-Bakersfield game represents what the team is capable of, despite this season’s record so far. “I think that we were able to implement our style of play with success. When we’re able to do that, we’re dangerous. We were physical and technical for a full 90 minutes,” said Mackenzie.
Unfortunately, CC faced a tough loss two days later against Baylor University. In a reversal of their previous game, CC was low on shots, with only three compared to Baylor’s 14. Baylor had four shots on goal and Mackenzie saved two of them. Baylor scored both of their goals in the first half, one at the 19:59 minute mark and another at 36:25.
Milliett and senior defender Samantha Curran both had shots on goal in the second half that were saved by Baylor’s goalkeeper. The game ended with a CC loss of 0-2.
“Our team struggled a bit with the style of play that Baylor brought to the game; they are a very strong and physical team that likes to play direct,” said Curran. “As a result of their size we had a hard time winning 50/50 balls, which made it more difficult to maintain possession throughout the game. Once we started to connect more passes and keep the ball on the floor, we found more success, but unfortunately we still came up short in the end.”
The block break games signaled the end of the Tiger’s non-conference schedule. They finished with a 2-6-1 record. The Tigers are taking what they can from these challenging games as they prepare for their conference schedule.
“I think these [past] games have gotten us stronger mentally so that we are able to push through the tough moments when it really counts,” said Tominello.
The Tigers begin their Mountain West schedule on Friday, Sept. 25 with an away game at the University of Nevada in Reno. The team is remaining optimistic and determined to perform well in their conference matches.
“We are very excited to start conference play and winning the Mountain West Conference title is our primary goal,” said Curran. “In order to achieve that goal, we want to be able to put together a full 90 minutes of good soccer and translate everything we have been working for and learning in practices and our preseason games to the rest of our season.”
“We are going to try to take confidence in our style of play as we move into conference play,” added Mackenzie. “We know what we need to do to win games, and it’s just a matter of being confident that we can play our way.”