“I give credit to Grand Canyon; I thought they came out ready to play,” said head coach Julie Woodward. “I was very proud of our team in the second half; we were very brave around the goal. I thought we were pretty determined to get the result they wanted. We also moved Kiana Kraft from the back to the midfield, and I really thought she was a game changer.”
In the beginning of the 5th minute, Taylor Layton put the Antelopes (1-6-0, 0-1-0) ahead, 1-0, dribbling down the middle and chipping the ball over SU goalkeeper Brianna Smallidge’s (Port Orchard, Wash.) head. The Redhawks added five more shots over the remainder of the half, but could not sink the ball as they trailed by one at the half.
In the 54th minute, Natasha Howe (Mission Viejo, Calif.) tied the game with an unassisted shot up the middle from about 20 yards out.
In the 62nd minute, Jacqui Wallis (Lake Oswego, Ore.) scored what would be the game-winner, kicking it to the left corner from the right side of the goalie on back-to-back shot attempts. Howe was credited with the assist.
Near the end of the 87th minute, Julia Moravec (Spokane, Wash.) would add an insurance goal for the Redhawks as Stephanie Verdoia (Salt Lake City, Utah) dribbled down the right side, passing the ball to Moravec in the middle.
“I thought it was really good that we were able to fight back after the first half and really come out and play hard,” said Wallis. “The entire team pressed and my goal was just our entire time trying to get in there, and I was just at the right place at the right time. It was also amazing to stick another [goal] in after that just to show them that we came here to play.”
Verdoia led Seattle U with four shots, three on goal, while Kat Prati (Moorpark, Calif.) added three shots for the Redhawks. Overall, SU outshot GCU, 17-3.
In goal, Smallidge made one save in the complete game win for Seattle U while Catherine Lena made five saves for Grand Canyon.
Seattle U (3-2-2, 1-0-0) hosts Cal Poly at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22 in their final non-conference match of the season. The match will be part of a doubleheader with the SU men’s soccer team, hosting Florida Gulf Coast, at 2:30 p.m. Links to live stats and video can be found on the men’s and women’s soccer schedule pages at GoSeattleU.com.