Box Score SANTA CLARA, Calif. --- UC Irvine hung with the Broncos of Santa Clara until a late goal foiled its bid falling, 2-1, Thursday night at Stephens Stadium.
The Anteaters (4-3-3) got the match going early taking the lead in the 7th minute.
Grayson Galbraith and
Kiana Palacios maneuvered down the right wing slipping a ball through to
Noel Baham who found an opening and scored making it 1-0, Anteaters.
Santa Clara (4-5-1) was able to find an equalizer right before the half. Machaela George fed a cross to Kelsey Turnbow who headed it along to tie things up at 1-1 in the 40th minute.
The 'Eaters put up some early second half shots, but the Broncos upped the attack peppering the net.
Maddie Newsom put up a fight with six saves on the night including a huge one in the 82nd minute to keep the match tied.
SCU found the back of the net a minute later as Gudrun Arnardottir's set piece flew goalward, and Kellie Peay got a head on it as she collided hard with Newsom getting home the game-winner in the 83rd minute to put Santa Clara up for good, 2-1.
Newsom's six saves did tie a career high while her counterpart, Melissa Lowder, made three saves on seven Anteater shots.
UCI came away with the advantage in corner kicks, 6-4, despite the 16-7 shot SCU advantage.
Noel Baham's goal was her ninth of her career. It's stands as the first goal scored by UCI at Santa Clara.
The 'Eaters will try to turn things around Sunday, Sept. 24 on the first half of a doubleheader with the men's squad at 2:00 p.m. against San Francisco.