UCR Wins On The Road Against LMU, 3-2

Thursday, August 26

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

UC Riverside

2-0-0, 0-0-0

Loyola Marymount

0-3-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UC Riverside	1	2	3
LMU	0	2	2

8/26/2021 9:59:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The University of California, Riverside (UCR) Highlanders played their first road game of the season against the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Lions in their first home game of the season. The Lions entered this game with an 0-2 record, having lost two matches on the road against the US Naval Academy and Georgetown. Head Coach Nat Gonzalez and his Highlanders won their home opener the previous weekend 2-0 in a Crosstown Showdown against California Baptist University.

Early pressure in the first minutes from both sides set the pace for an aggressive, well-played game that stayed exciting until the very end.

Cassia Souza snatched her first save in the sixth minute of the game, grabbing a shot from the Lions that came full force to the bottom center of the goal.

The Highlanders attempted to create opportunities in the first ten minutes of the game but found themselves offsides repeatedly, preventing the chance to get a shot off.

The Highlanders got their first shot on the goal in the tenth minute, with Alexis Vera firing off a shot to the middle of the net right at LMU's keeper.

Vera found the net first for UCR in the twelfth minute of the game, easily converting a penalty shot earned off a foul drawn by Alexandra Hargrave, securing an early 1-0 lead in the first quarter.

Entering the second period ahead, UC Riverside sought an insurance goal. In the 53^rd minute, Leigh Polson scored her first goal of the season off an assist from Akari Shimizu, extending the Highlanders lead to 2-0.

Highlander offense continued to battle, as Leyna Wood scored her first goal in UCR blue and gold at 73:37. UCR found themselves comfortable in a 3-0 lead.

LMU crept up on the Highlanders with a pair of goals in the 75^th and 83^rd minute of the game, bringing the game to 3-2. Although the Lions got 14 shots off on goal in the second half alone, the barrage of shots from the Lions wasn't enough to get past Freshman Goalkeeper Cassia Souza.

"It was a great start for the program. I am super excited that we can learn a valuable lesson and still follow through and get the win," Coach Gonzalez said. "We are a young squad so knowing how to finish games and not let up at this level will be important moving forward. There are no easy games."

The Highlanders return to the UCR Soccer Stadium to host Pepperdine for their next match on Sunday, August 29 at 7:30 PM.