The University of California, Merced women's soccer team clinched a senior day victory Sunday afternoon, defeating visiting University of California Santa Cruz 3-1.
The cheers from the pregame senior day festivities had barely ended before the Bobcats found the back of the net. The favorite to bring home this year's Defensive Player of the Week award Desiree Coles earned yet another offensive statistic when she fired a ball into the box to the feet of Elizabeth Cruz. Cruz calmly slipped it past the visiting keeper to give UC Merced a 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats wouldn't have to wait much longer to double that lead, as Daisy Bonilla would fire a shot into the top of the net to get UC Merced up 2-0 with just eight minutes having run off the clock.
The Banana Slugs wouldn't fall too quickly though. They would fire a seeing-eye shot from long range that found its way into the top left portion of the net to give themselve a 2-1 deficit.
That 2-1 Bobcat lead would bring the teams to halftime, and well into the second half. Fortunately it was the Bobcats who would break that score, as Bridget Villanueva took a perfect through-ball from Ashley Bennett, and chipped the rushing keeper. The ensuing 3-1 scoreline would be how the game would end.
Maggie Morales made four saves in 90 minutes to earn UC Merced their 11th victory of the season.
Prior to the game, the Bobcats honored ten senior athletes for their contributions to the team. Those athletes were: Maggie Morales, Tiffany Souza, Daisy Bonilla, Karen Lepe, Elizabeth Cruz, Veronica Villacorta, Katerina Rocker Heppe, Kelsey McLaurin, Shelby Devlin, and Ruby Alberto.
The Bobcats now look ahead to their final game of the regular season. That one will happen in Redding, CA when they take on Simpson University at 12:30 PM on November 5th.
