OLYMPIA, Wash. – A pair of goals by senior Anastasia Daniels (Olympia, Wash./South Puget Sound CC) led the way as the Evergreen Geoducks doubled up the visiting George Fox Bruins, 4-2, in a non-conference women’s soccer game on Friday afternoon on a sunny Evergreen Pitch in Olympia, Wash.
The Geoducks (2-2-0) opened up the scoring in the 13th minute after Rayna Murphy (Longview, Wash./Mark Morris HS) fed a beautiful cross to the boot of Teresa Lopez (Yakima, Wash./Yakima Valley CC), who put it just inside the right post for a 1-0 Evergreen lead over the Bruins (0-2-2).
Daniels scored her first of the afternoon in the 26th minute on a chip shot from about eight yards out that went over the head of GFU keeper Becka Doyle. George Fox scored their first goal in the 32nd minute as Cassady Gardner took advantage of a free kick opportunity and sailed it past Evergreen keeper Lauren Davidson (Seattle, Wash./North Seattle CC).
The Bruins evened things up less than three minutes later as Shannon Olson sprinted down the right side and crossed a shot past Davidson inside the left post as the teams headed into halftime tied at 2-2. The stats were pretty even as well in the first half as Evergreen outshot George Fox, 8-6, in the first 45 minutes.
The second half however turned out to be all Evergreen as they gained back the lead in the 62nd minute after Brianna Speed (Seattle, Wash./Lake Washington HS) dribbled the ball and beat Doyle one-on-one for the 3-2 advantage.
Evergreen closed out the scoring just a few minutes later as Daniels gathered the rebound following a saved shot by Deirdre Dornay (Mercer Island, Wash./Bellevue College) and put it in from point blank in the 69th minute for the 4-2 win. With her second goal, Daniels became the first Geoducks since Brianna Speed in 2008 to record a multi-goal game.
Evergreen was much stronger offensively in the final 45, outshooting the Bruins 10-3 in the second half. Despite giving up four scores, Doyle was solid in net for GFU, making 10 saves, including seven in the second half.
The offensive output was the most goals scored by the Geoducks since they scored six against Warner Pacific on Oct. 7, 2006. It also marks the first time since 2008 that Evergreen has won back to back games and the first home win for the green and white since defeating George Fox, 1-0, on Sep. 13, 2009.
Evergreen hits the road next Friday as they travel to Cheney, Wash. to take on NCAA Division I Eastern Washington in a cross-state non-conference match. First kick with the Eagles is set for 4 p.m.
