EVERETT, Wash. – Conceding two goals in the first six minutes of the game, the Evergreen Geoducks couldn’t overcome the early deficit, falling 5-1 to the Trinty Lutheran Eagles on Saturday evening in a non-conference women’s soccer game at Everett Memorial Stadium in Everett, Wash.
In the first half, it didn’t take long for host Trinity Lutheran (1-0-0) to strike as Kayla Kliphardt found herself in a one-on-one showdown with Evergreenn (0-1-0) keeper Emma Loftis (Eatonville, Wash./Eatonville HS) before putting the ball in the left corner of the net for a 1-0 advantage just 3:29 into the game. The Eagles made it 2-0 just two minutes later as Alex Chick used her left foot to boot the ball past Loftis for the score.
The game looked to be getting out of hand in the 14th minute as Kliphardt scored her second goal of the match on a bullet from the top of the box. The Geoducks finally got on the board in the 37th minute as Brianna Speed (Seattle, Wash./Lake Washington HS) took a feed from Lea Rohan (Las Vegas, Nev./Jackson State University) before finishing from 10 yards out as Evergreen trailed 3-1 at half.
Kliphardt completed the hat trick in the 70th minute, crossing the ball from left to right and just barely into the corner of the net. The Eagles made it five scores in the 77th minute as Arianna Tomlin fed in a ball to Lorena Cruz, who finished from point blank on the left post.
After trailing in shots, 9-6, in the first half, the Geoducks kept the pressure on in the second half, outshooting the Eagles 10-5 in the final 45 to outshoot Trinity Lutheran, 16-14, on the game. Loftis made three saves for the Geoducks on the night while Kaylin Wilson made five saves for the Eagles.
The Geoducks will play a pair of scrimmages next week before returning to action on Sept. 1 at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.
