UC Irvine
UC Riverside
Lopez Drills Home Conference-Opening 1-0 Win over UC Riverside
October 04, 2015 | Women's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- Women's soccer started Big West play on the right foot thanks to Claudia Lopez's left foot as her 64th-minute goal stood up for the 1-0 victory Sunday afternoon in Anteater Stadium.
The play opened up with a Kelsee Pottorff corner kick into the box. The ball rattled around before Noel Baham trapped it and shoveled it back to Lopez who faked, danced, and laid one on net that glanced off a defender's foot and into the roof of the net to earn the 1-0 lead.
UC Irvine (5-6-1, 1-0-0) pushed on nearly added a pair of goals after a laser from Kiana Palacios was punched high by the keeper in the 71st minute, and Brittany Doan had a go at it in the 86th minute curling a shot just wide.
Anteater keeper Corey Tobin stood her ground stopping four shots to bring home the shutout, her fifth on the year. The biggest save might have come from the defensive line, however. In the sixth minute, UC Riverside (6-6-0, 0-1-0) sent in a corner that eventually found Tyler Cunningham on the left of the box. Her volley seemed destined for the net, but Haley O'Brien was perfectly positioned to head it away on the goalline and keep the match scoreless.
The 'Eaters responded in the 19th minute as a perfect cross was rolled into the six-yard box, and Baham poked it toward goal, but Highlander keeper Elizabeth Silas was up to the task, one of her four saves.
Lopez's goal was her first as an Anteater to go with an assist on the year. Baham's assist was her second on the season and fifth of her young career.
The result puts the 'Eaters in the win column to open Big West play for the first time since 2012 while snapping a two-match losing streak to the Highlanders. They'll try to ride that wave into next week when they travel to CSUN for a 7:00 p.m. match on Thurs. Oct. 8.
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