Junior forward
Michelle Carels (Anaheim, CA/El Dorado, Santiago Canyon College) scored on a powerful, left-footed boot from about 25 yards out in the 58th minute,, but it wasn't enough as the Grand Canyon University women's soccer team lost 2-1 to BYU-Hawaii tonight at the GCU Soccer Field.
Not only did the loss drop the Antelopes' season record to 6-2-1 overall, 4-1-1 in the Pacific West Conference, but it also caused them to fall out of first place in the PacWest. The Seasiders took over the top spot by improving their record to 5-0-2, 4-0-1.
GCU plays Hawaii Pacific (2-6-0, 2-3-0) on Monday and Wednesday at the GCU Soccer Field. Both matches kick off at 8 p.m.
BYU-Hawaii, meanwhile, travels to St. George, Utah for matches against Dixie State (7-3-0, 4-2-0) on Tuesday and Thursday.
The Seasiders broke into the scoring column first in tonight's game on a goal by freshman defender Kim Micheletti in the 26th minute. Junior midfielder Lauran Wang made an excellent cross from right to left and Michelleti headed it in.
BYU-Hawaii scored again in the 51st minute when junior midfielder Natalie Cude won a header on a goal kick and senior forward Emily Mearns put it away on a breakaway.
It was an extremely rough game, with 23 fouls being called, 15 of them against the 'Lopes. The Seasiders had a 15-13 edge in shots (11 of their shots came in the second half), and each team had three corner kicks.
One yellow card was issued, to GCU Head Coach Stevie Gill in the 22nd minute.
Junior goalkeeper
Stephanie Phillips (Tempe, AZ/Corona del Sol, Washington State University) again was outstanding, recording five saves and taking away many other scoring chances from the Seasiders.
The 'Lopes were playing without their leading scorer, sophomore midfielder
Marina Nesic (Koceljeva, Serbia/Nada Dimic Zemun), who suffered a knee injury in Thursday's game. The extent of her injury has not been determined.
Box score
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