Merced, Calif. - The Golden Eagles women's soccer team had the tough task of facing the top team in the Cal Pac this afternoon, in the University of California – Merced, falling by a final of 8-0. The Golden Eagles dropped to 0-2 in Cal Pac play (1-3 overall), while the Bobcats maintained a perfect record of 4-0 in the conference (7-1-3 overall).
Merced broke through with their first goal of the match in the 14th minute, when Veronical Villacorta scored the first goal of a hat-trick she would finish with. Villacorta added a goal just prior to the halftime break and scored again midway through the second half.
Nicole Salm scored two of the eight goals, while Ashley Bennett and Miranda Thomas each notched a goal and an assist in the match.
The Golden Eagles were on the defensive from the get-go and were held without a shot for the entire match.
Despite giving up the eight goals, Golden Eagles goalkeeper Lauren Holly (22) and her defense (4) stopped a total of 26 shots.
The young Golden Eagles squad will not doubt regroup and be ready for their next match. The team will return home to play a re-scheduled match that originally was to be played last weekend, up in Lake Tahoe, versus Sierra Nevada College. The match was ultimately cancelled due to snow showers in the area, last Sunday afternoon. Therefore, the match has been rescheduled for this coming Thursday, at 8pm, and will be played on the Golden Eagles home field.
