FULLERTON, Calif. --- UC Irvine women's soccer used some heady plays to erase a halftime deficit and win, 2-1, Thursday night in Titan Stadium.
DOWN EARLY
In the first matchup between these programs, the Anteaters (6-4, 1-1) got the early jump scoring in the seventh minute. This time around, Cal State Fullerton (4-8, 1-2) started things off scoring in the eighth minute. Delaney Lindahl's cross floated across the box through the defense and
Glo Hinojosa's fingertips landing to Haley Brown at the far post who put a shot on frame and in to make it 1-0, Titans.
The score remained 1-0 into the half, but the 'Eaters held the advantage in shots, 7-5, and earned four of the five corner kicks.
HEAD FIRST
The Anteaters put the pressure from the get-go in the second half including a pair of shots and corner kicks in the first minutes. That second corner kick proved to be an important one.
The ball fell to
Chloe Ragon near the penalty spot, and she was taken out before she could attempt a shot, but earned a corner that
Destinee Manzo stepped up for. Manzo's perfect delivered landed to
Maddy Chavez who out-leaped the CSF defender putting it on goal for keeper DeAira Jackson to save. The rebound flew near the left post, and
Laila El Behery beat the defender to that returning the ball to goal with a header for the equalizing goal in the 50th minute.
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New life for the Anteaters with a level playing field, and next they would find a stroke of luck. The offense continued to cook, and
Scarlett Camberos continued to drive it. She worked a ball away from the Titans along the sideline and hooked in a cross toward the box. The ball found a Cal State Fullerton defender whose header flew toward her own goal and caught Jackson off guard in net allowing the go-ahead strike in for a 2-1 UCI lead in the 66th minute.
FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 2, CAL STATE FULLERTON 1
The 'Eaters completed the sweep of CSF in two matches in 2021. This win was especially important providing UCI's first three points of conference play. It was also the second come-from-behind victory joining a 2-1 non-conference defeat of CSUN earlier in the year.Â
Laila El Behery's goal comes as her third of the season. She returned to the team after missing the conference opener against UC San Diego being with the Egyptian under-20 squad attempting to qualify for the under-20 Women's World Cup. She marked the only points for the 'Eaters on the night as the game-winner went down as an own goal.
Scarlett Camberos was once again part of the game-winning goal after scoring the winner herself in the first meeting.
Glo Hinojosa recorded her sixth win of the season and second against the Titans. She finished with four saves while her counterpart, DeAira Jackson, stopped five.
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BACK HOME
Big West play continues Sunday, October 3, back in Anteater Stadium with a match against UC Riverside coming off a draw vs. Long Beach State. The match kicks off at 1:00 p.m.
