LA GRANDE, Ore. – After falling behind by four goals, the Evergreen Geoducks scored two second half goals but it wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit as the visiting green and white fell to the host Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, 4-2, in a Cascade Conference women’s soccer match on Monday afternoon in La Grande, Ore.
The host Mounties (3-7-1, 1-3-1 CCC) opened up the scoring in the 11th minute when Rachael Collins found the foot of Amanda Swenson, who put the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead over the Geoducks (2-8-1, 0-5-0 CCC). EOU made it 2-0 in the 27th minute when Collins scored a goal of her own, thanks to the assist of Mauriana Gonzalez. Erika Whitehurst joined in the part for Eastern Oregon in the 32nd minute when Rachael Collins passed her the ball and Whitehurst scored for the 3-0 halftime lead.
EOU made it 3-0 in the 55th minute on an unassisted score by Kelli Jones but that would be the end of the offense for the host Mounties. In the 59th minute, freshman Katie Hebein (Boulder, Colo./Boulder HS) scored her second goal of the road trip on the assist of Rayna Murphy (Longview, Wash./Mark Morris HS). Senior Anastasia Daniels (Olympia, Wash./South Puget Sound CC) got the Geoducks back within two goals with a score in the 71st minute but it was too little, too late as EOU collected the 4-2 win.
Both Evergreen keeper Lauren Davidson (Seattle, Wash./North Seattle CC) and EOU keeper Chantal Schefers ended up with six saves each. The Geoducks held a slight edge in shots, 20-16, while Eastern held the advantage in corner kicks, 4-1.
The Geoducks return home for the remainder of 2011, beginning on Saturday afternoon with a Cascade Conference match with Warner Pacific. First kick with the Knights is set for 1pm on Evergreen Pitch in Olympia, Wash.
