TURLOCK — Not only was UC Santa Cruz's women's soccer team a reborn program, the Banana Slugs are much improved on the pitch.
Despite Stanislaus State's dominance on offense, UCSC managed to defend like crazy to survive its latest trip to Warrior Stadium and leave with a 0-0 tie. Stan State, which had out-scored the Slugs 16-1 in the last three outings over the last three seasons, are now 6-4-2 before going back on the conference schedule.
For the 3-10-1 Banana Slugs, it is the first time they in five tries that they were able to walk away with a positive result.
Still, the Warriors had the upper-hand (or feet) all night. They out-played UCSC all over the field, including a 17-1 shot advantage. They also tried 12 corner kicks (to 3) but were unable to get the ball past the loaded box and goalkeeper Alie Mandel. Seemingly happy to play for a tie, UCSC played nine defenders and midfielders against the Warriors' attack.
Alyssa Herrman earned one save early in the match but had little action the rest of the night. Her counterpart, Mandel, picked up three saves.
The Warriors' best chances also came early on. The first shot of the game, by
Hannah Lewandowski, hit the crossbar just 1:50 in. A few of the Stan State shots were blocked by the many Slugs defenders in the box. A
Rayana Plancarte shot just before the end of the first half hit the right-post and the rebound shot by Demi Gonis went just wide.
Stanislaus continued to press and pushed forward, managing five shots in the second half and two shots in each of the OT periods. The final chance of the night came just a second before the end of the second overtime when a long service found
Jade Poon for a solid point-blank attempt, but Mandel was there to catch it as time expired.
UCSC's athletics programs were in jeopardy two seasons ago until efforts to save the teams prevails and a referendum passed to ultimately allowed sports to continue on campus. Stan State women's soccer played a role in helping saved the Slugs as the Warriors wrote letters of support as a team project in April of 2016.
