Washington State’s California road trip has ended, with the Cougars falling to UC Irvine in a 2-0 loss that the Anteaters dominated from start to finish. The loss drops the Cougars to 1-2-3 on the season, with one week of non conference action left before the WCC season gets started.
The first half of the game was evenly matched. The Cougars and the Anteaters each had eight shots, each forced two saves, neither could score. Ava Ghoreishi and Jordyn Young led the way for the Cougars with two shots each, while Clara Samson had three for the Anteaters.
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After a scoreless first half, the Cougars were the first team to blink in the second. 15 seconds into the half Mihaela Perez got the ball up field to Ella Colombini, and Colombini found a dashing Clara Samson who fired a fastball right past Keara Fitzgerald for the first goal of the game, and a 1-0 UC Irvine lead.
Jordyn Young got a good shot off for the Cougars a few minutes later, forcing a Layrunn Ziller save, but that was the only offense Washington State saw for awhile, as the Anteaters managed to put a lot of pressure on the WSU goal, taking three shots in the 52nd minute.
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Washington State got a few shots on goal in the second half, but the game remained in UC Irvine’s favor. The Anteaters finally got the clincher in the 82nd minute, with Mihaela Perez and Ella Colombini got the ball to Suus de Bakker, who found the top center of the net to put UC Irvine up 2-0.
Washington State did not respond well, with a foul on Ava Ghoreishi resulting in a red card that just about doomed the already meager chances of a comeback. Audrey Shackleford and Jordyn Young each got a shot off in the final 10 minutes, but both missed high, sealing the win for the Anteaters.
Next week the Cougars will be back in Pullman, taking on North Dakota State on Thursday, September 18th. Kick off is set for 7 p.m. PT.
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