SANTA CRUZ, Calif. --- Wildcat women's soccer capped off a weekend road trip to California to kick off the 2025 season, earning their second draw of the weekend on Sunday against East Texas Baptist; 2-2.
After the Wildcats were unable to score in Friday's season opener, the offense got going early on Sunday, as sophomore
Julia Alvarez fired two shots in the opening nine minutes, both earning saves for the Tigers keeper.
With Linfield controlling the large majority of possession, ETBU was able to score on their first shot on the game in the 18
th minute, grabbing a 1-0 lead on the 'Cats. The offense didn't back down, continuing to fire attempt after attempt, with the seventh of the half finding the back of the net in the 33
rd minute. Linfield earned a corner kick, which was sent to the middle of the box and snuck past the Tiger keeper, finding the foot of freshman
Sydney Garner to knot the score at 1-1. For Garner, it marks the first goal of her young collegiate career.
In the second half, ETBU once again utilized their first shot of the half to score and regain a 2-1 lead over Linfield. For the 'Cats, the shot attempts didn't follow into the final half of play, but their one shot came off of a corner kick to the far post, finding the head of
Jenna Stanley, making it a 2-2 game with under 10-minutes to play. Stanley, a senior defender, scored her first goal since the 2023 season and her fourth of her career.
The 'Cats outshot the Tigers, 8-3, with seven shots on-target. Two shots each came from Alvarez, Garner, and Stanley, while
Mia Curtaz and
Lena Caballero Uhtoff took one each. Although ETBU was effective with their three total shots, Wildcat keeper
Alexa Fritz earned one save, bringing her season total to eight.
Linfield (0-0-2) returns home to prepare for next Friday's home opener against Warner Pacifc. The Wildcats make their FloSports debut at 7 p.m. at the Linfield Soccer/Lacrosse complex.
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