Women’s Soccer Rally Falls Short at Redlands

REDLANDS, Calif. — Three first-half goals from Redlands proved too much to overcome for the University of La Verne women's soccer team as it fell, 4-3, at Farquhar Field on Saturday.

How it happened: JJ Weaver got the Leopards on the board first in the sixth minute. On a two-on-one situation, Kelsea Varner lofted a pass over Redlands goalkeeper Lexi Felix and Weaver dribbled it into the open goal.

Redlands responded.

In the 18^th minute, Savannah Laursen found Kate Frame in the box with a good pass and Frame beat La Verne goalkeeper Delanie Pacheco to equalize at 1-1. Not 40 seconds later, the Bulldogs drove up the field after the reset and Jen Franklin found collected a rebound off post and poked it in on another assist from Laursen to go up, 2-1.

Franklin struck again in the 27^th minute to make it three unanswered goals for the Bulldogs.

The Leopards came out of the halftime break with a renewed focus and got one back in the 69^th minute. After a scrum in the box, Weaver somehow found the ball and found the back of the net to get the Leopards within 3-2

But Laursen put a damper on La Verne's comeback attempt with a goal of her own in the 76^th minute on an individual effort.

Defender Lauren Toneck made it 4-3 on a rebound from a Weaver shot with about three minutes left, but the Leopards could not muster one final goal.

Player of the game: Weaver was once again a force to be reckoned with up top for the Leopards. She got off four shots with three of them on goal. The other hit the crossbar late in the game, which led to the goal by Hernandez.

Stat of the game: Pacheco was kept busy all afternoon as the Bulldogs got a total of 15 shots on goal. Redlands could've scored more goals, but the senior kept the Leopards in the game with 11 saves.

What it means: La Verne falls to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in SCIAC play. The Leopards have shown flashes of brilliance throughout the season, but still haven't been able to string a couple of wins together.

Up next: The Leopards return to action at Whittier (1-9-1, 0-6-0 SCIAC) on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.