After two straight double-overtime draws, the University of California, Merced women's soccer team got tired of letting teams hang around with them. So Monday afternoon they bagged two goals in the second half against visiting William Jessup University to walk away with a strong 2-0 shutout victory.
In the 102-degree weather, neither team was particularly hot in the first half. The Bobcats had a strong 7-3 advantage in shots, but none were particularly threatening.
That all changed when the Bobcats came out the clear aggressors in the second half. Playing against a Jessup squad that appeared to be fighting the heat as much as the opponents, the Bobcats put their foot to the gas and took it to the visiting Warriors, pounding in nine shots in the final 45 minutes.
Bridget Villanueva, who had been itching to get back in the scoring column, broke the 0-0 deadlock just under a minute into the second half. Off a beautifully placed corner from Ashley Bennett, Villanueva rose up and headed the ball past the keeper to give UC Merced their first lead of the game.
Bennett played facilitator again on the Bobcats' second goal, although this time without the assist, feeding a cutting Elizabeth Cruz to the corner. Cruz faked like she was taking the ball to the corner flag, but instead drove along the endline. After a quick move to beat a second defender, Cruz caught the keeper leaning to her right and instead calmly slotted it to the left to find the back of the net on a nifty piece of individual play.
With the game safely in hand, the Bobcats were able to comfortably close things out for the last 19 minutes.
The Bobcats outshot Jessup by a large 16-5 margin, including a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal.
Maggie Morales went the full 90 in goal for UC Merced, making three saves in the shutout.
With the non-conference victory behind them, the team will now look ahead to six straight conference matchups. Of those six, all but the first and last will come on the friendly confines of the Lake Field in Merced. Their next game comes on the road against Soka University of America at 1:00 PM Saturday.
