Sept. 9, 2012
SEATTLE - In one of the biggest home games in school history, the No. 22 Washington women's soccer team blanked one of the best programs in the nation, the 2010 National Champion, Notre Dame, 3-0, Sunday afternoon. Washington improves to 7-0 on the year, tying its best start since 2008. It is the second best start in school history in which head coach Lesle Gallimore's team went 8-0 that year. Notre Dame falls to 3-3-1 in 2012. Lindsay Elston (Sammamish, Wash.) scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season, the game-winner in the 29th minute. Elston dribbled several yards down the right side of the field, cut in and beat the keeper one-on-one to send the ball to the upper left corner. UW went up 2-0 at the half with its second goal by sophomore Jaclyn Softli, another Sammamish, Wash., native, in the 38th minute. She took one shot that bounced off the keeper, won the ball back and took a second shot which went in the back of the net. It was the second goal on the weekend for Softli. "This game meant everything to us," said Softli. "We were looking forward to this game since we found out they were on our schedule. They are a great team so it was really important for us to get the win." The third and final UW goal came from freshman Falon Miller, her first career goal, in the 89th minute. She took a long pass from the right corner by fellow freshman Isabel Farrell for the goal. "I think there are turning points in a game and to be up 2-0 at the half took so much pressure off of our team," said Gallimore. "To be able to get a good start on a Sunday and get ahead in a game helps you with the fatigue from Friday's game and the travel." Notre Dame took 17 shots on goal while UW had 16. Lauren Bohaboy had eight shots for the Fighting Irish. Elston led the Huskies with six. Washington senior goalkeeper Kari Davidson (Portland, Ore.) earned her third-straight shutout, making four saves in the game. Notre Dame used two keepers. Elyse Hight took the loss in the start and Sarah Voigt played the final 45 minutes. Washington will hit the road for the next five games, finishing non-conference play at Utah State and BYU next week. "There are things in our season that are starting to show as a result of our team staying mentally prepared so I'm hopeful these seven games can give us the fortitude to fight through the tough stretch that is coming up." |
