The Bruin women’s soccer team played twice in three days, losing to Clearwater on Saturday but beating Johnson University on Monday, extending their record to 3-7 in the season thus far.
Clearwater – The Bruins played hard against Clearwater Christian College Saturday night but came up short, falling to the Cougars by a slim margin of 2-0. Clearwater entered the game undefeated, but BJU played with intensity and energy throughout the entire game.
Jocelyn Reemtsma and Dani Lee led the way on defense for the Bruins and kept Clearwater’s potent scoring attack at bay for the entire first half. Early in the second half, Clearwater striker Tori Hale took in a cross and netted the ball in the back of the goal.
“I had a really good cross from one of my teammates,” Hale said. “It just happened to land on my left foot, so I was able to put it in the bottom right corner.” Clearwater’s Leah Zwiers scored the only other goal of the game 15 minutes later.
The Bruins showed improvement overall, though. “We were able not to get knocked off the ball,” Bruins’ coach Chris Carmichael said. “I thought we defended well.” Coach Carmichael also pointed out that the Bruins held Clearwater to almost four goals less than their season average.
Johnson University – The Bruins returned to the field on Monday night against Johnson University and brought their offense along with them this time, winning handily by a score of 5-0.
Sarah Porch started the Bruins off by putting a pass from Becca Luttrell into the goal. Freshman forward Lauren Peek made a beautiful move to lose her defender and extended the lead with a goal 15 minutes later. Spencer Martin joined in the scoring frenzy just two minutes later with a perfectly placed shot into the upper 90.
Porch notched another goal right after the second half started, with a shot from just inside the 18-yard line that dipped under the crossbar. Tessie Estrella added the Bruins’ final goal of the night just a few seconds after entering the game in the second half.
“We were better at possessing [the ball],” Coach Carmichael said. “Our defensive backs got more involved in the attack, and that really helped us a lot.”
The Bruin women hope to overcome injuries and keep up their offensive pressure when they take on Florida Christian College Monday.
