Women’s soccer completes comeback to win first SCIAC game

Photo by Caleb Otte, Sports Editor

The first four minutes of Wednesday afternoon’s clash with Redlands University could not have gone any better for the Chapman women’s soccer team. Their energized pressure and technical ability on the ball put the Bulldogs on the back foot immediately.

Then the moment came. Junior forward Jenna Urrabazo found sophomore midfielder Pilar Vanheusden on the wing after drawing the attention of three Redlands defenders. Vanheusden’s cross attempt ended up sailing into the top corner. The Panthers had manufactured a dream start to conference play, just three minutes and 40 seconds in.

The next 86 minutes and 20 seconds, however, were far from picturesque. It was through chaos that Chapman found themselves.

Chapman finished fourth in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) regular season last year before being bounced by the eventual champion, California Lutheran University, in the first round of the playoffs. They want more this season.

After their three non-conference games ended with one win, one loss and one draw, the team spent all their hours on the pitch training for this matchup. Head coach Courtney Calderon, in her 21st year leading the program, wanted the team to control the flow of the game.

“Consistency is a word that we’ve been focusing on,” Calderon said.

The first half was far from consistent for either team, though. After Vanheusden, an applied human physiology major, scored the first goal it seemed like Chapman would go on to dominate. They had all of the momentum for the next 18 minutes, but couldn’t capitalize.

It took two substitutes and some luck for Redlands to equalize. In a moment completely against the run of play, freshman midfielder Averie Stunz played a hopeful ball through to senior forward Sami Salinas. Chapman’s defense misjudged it, allowing Salinas to have a clear shot at goal which she calmly tucked away. Both players involved in the goal had entered the pitch no more than two minutes earlier.

Soon after, Redlands took the lead. In the first 22 minutes Chapman was first to every 50-50 ball but now the visitors were emboldened by their goal. Just two minutes after Salinas scored, Redlands had a free kick. Senior midfielder Celine Akroush took a shot that Chapman goalkeeper, Aaliyah Bustamante, couldn't tip over the bar. In a scramble, senior midfielder Malia Kuhl tapped the ball in from short range.

Chapman had their foot on Redlands’ necks but never pressed down, and with a bit of good fortune the Bulldogs became the aggressors. They led 2-1 at halftime.

“We can’t have a first half like that,” Calderon said. “To come out strong, and then give up goals. Soft goals.”

Just glancing at the stat sheet, it gave the impression that it was a very back and forth half. It was more a case of each team having spells of dominance, where Redlands were able to capitalize more on their chances than Chapman.

Much is made of halftime team talks in the sporting world. The old cliché of coaches giving their players a dressing down is the prevailing ideology behind what goes on when a team needs firing up before the second half. According to Urrabazo, though, the team energized themselves.

“We kind of had a lot of fire under our bellies, and hyped each other up at halftime,” she said. “We really said, ‘we should not be losing this game, because we prepared so much and we felt ready’.”

Calderon said that she believed her team’s shortcomings in the first half were very fixable.

“What it came down to was just putting more work in, (I told them) everything else will come if we frontload our work,” she said.

Coming out of the break it was almost like watching an entirely different game. Chapman brought their highest intensity level of the season so far. The bench cheered every positive moment, and each time they created a chance the belief started to seep into those on the field.

There was a sense of inevitability in the air that the Panthers would find a goal to tie the score. They leaned on two of their star players to get them there.

According to Chapman Athletics, Urrabazo, a strategic and corporate communication major, has been the leading scorer on the team throughout her entire collegiate career. She is a two-time All-SCIAC team selection and the team lives and breathes through her talent. She had been whipping in corner after corner in the second half, creating problems for the Redlands defense. Finally one of them found the head of a teammate.

Fifth year defender Emma Harper, a computer science major, was an impenetrable rock defensively all game. Without her, Redlands could’ve easily added to their lead. When Urrabazo sent in her zillionth corner of the second half, Harper was there to meet it and score her first of the season. It was what Chapman needed and what they deserved for their second half dominance.

“We’ve worked a lot on set pieces,” Urrabazo said. “I think (set pieces keep) the other team on their toes, and (make) them not expect what we’re doing, make us unpredictable as a team. I think that’s what we’re really trying to go for this season.”

Harper and the defense neutralized both Salinas and Akroush in the second half. That allowed the attack to flourish.

With 76 minutes on the clock another set piece, this time a free kick, created more disorder for Redlands defensively. The ball found its way to Vanheusden, who instinctively stuck out a leg to poke it beyond the Redlands goalkeeper and regain Chapman’s lead. It was her second of the game and season, already half of her total from freshman year.

Just like Redlands in the first half, the next goal came quickly after. Urrabazo, who had played the role of provider all afternoon, created her own moment of glory. Picking up the ball about 25 yards from goal, she cut inside and unleashed a bullet into the top right corner of the goal. She not only capped off a hard fought victory for Chapman, but also an exceptional performance for herself.

“There’s a lot of tension and pressure built up since it’s my junior year,” Urrabazo said. “That all let loose once I got the ball. I just saw the goal and nothing else. I was like, ‘I am hitting this as hard as I can,’ and I just buried it. I think I really wanted it.”

Calderon had nothing but flowers to give her star forward after the match.

“She’s a stud,” Calderon said. “It was great to finally see her have some confidence and go to goal. She did that and she got rewarded.”

It was Urrabazo’s only shot of the night, but all she needed was one to make her mark. Chapman themselves peppered the Redlands’ goal with 18 recorded shots and 10 on target. If it wasn’t for some amazing saves from the Bulldogs’ goalkeeper, junior Shannon Stewart, the score would have been uglier for the visitors.

The only negative for the Panthers in the second half was an injury to Grace Vasquez when the score was 2-2. She went down clutching her ankle in pain.

Chapman displayed pure dominance for about 70 minutes in total, and for the entire second half. Calderon wants her team to put together a full 90-minute performance moving forward, but lauded the resiliency they showed.

“They proved to themselves that they could come back, and that they’re talented enough,” she said. “They just needed to keep digging and get through the rough parts. They came out on top which is huge. I’m just really proud of them.”

Team chemistry, passion and technical quality were all on display for Chapman. After the final whistle blew, the bench rushed onto the field to celebrate a hard-fought victory. While they are still working through the kinks of early season play, there is an energy within the team that they can and will achieve great things this season.