After giving up a goal early in the second half, the Seattle University women’s soccer team answered back with two goals of its own to earn a 2-1 victory over Weber State Friday afternoon at the P.E. Playfield in Seattle’s first-ever Division I contest.
After a scoreless first half, (0-1) jumped on the board five minutes after halftime, as Hayley McCoy found Whitney Smith at the right post and Smith sent the ball into the net for the home team. Just over a minute later, the Wildcats failed to make the clear, and Kassandra Riozzi () stole the ball and sent a shot from 18 yards out over the goalkeeper’s head to tie the match.
In the 59th minute, Kara Kuttler (, ) sent a pass from the center of the box to the left post, from where Jamie Coe () converted on a shot for her first goal of the season, giving the Redhawks the lead for good. Both teams picked up the offensive tempo in the last 25 minutes of the match, as took six shots and had three attempts on goal.
goalkeeper Madison Goverde () picked up the victory in her first collegiate match, earning two saves during the afternoon. goalie Rebecca Ritchie finished with three saves, while her teammates helped her out with a team save in the second half. Riozzi led the Redhawks with four total shots, three of them on goal, while McCoy was credited with five of ’s 13 total shots.
“I am excited to earn a victory in our first match of the season, especially since we hadn’t faced outside competition before today,” head coach Julie Woodward said. “I was pleased with the way we came out today, especially the freshmen who were in the starting lineup. is a good team, but we responded well after they scored and were able to get two goals of our own. I expect the team to improve as the season goes along, but this is a good start.”
(1-0) continues the weekend trip to with a contest against Sunday, Aug. 24, beginning at 1 p.m. local time. Live stats will be available for the match in , , through ’s athletics website at www.utahstateaggies.com. The Redhawks play their first seven matches on the road before opening the home schedule against on Sunday, Sept. 21.