Advancing the Work

The Providence Christian women's soccer team traveled to Arizona to take on California Pacific Conference opponents, Benedictine Mesa and Embry-Riddle.  The Lady Sea Beggars utilized the trip to unite on and off the field and played some good soccer as the program continues to grow.   

The Lady Beggars started the Benedictine game firing on all cylinders and putting Benedictine on their heels early, taking the lead in the 16th minute.  Sophomore Isabella Pecunes scored the opening goal off an assist from freshman Sutton Denny.  Denny played a beautiful through ball to Pecunes, who got behind the defenders and put the ball in the back of the net.  The goal gave Providence the advantage early, until Benedictine Mesa (AZ) responded with the equalizer in the 28th minute.

In the second half, both teams battled and remained tied for much of the game.  Benedictine applied pressure and looked for opportunities to take the lead with their efforts paying off with the eventual game winner scored in the 70th minute. The match was intense and saw both teams creating several scoring chances, but the Redhawks prevailed, winning 2-1.  Isabella Pecunes was a standout player for Providence, scoring the only goal of the game and Faith Huston made 2 saves in goal.  The Lady Sea Beggars fought hard but eventually fell short in their quest for an Arizona win.  The match was a testament to the competitive spirit and skill displayed by both teams.

On Saturday the Lady Sea Beggars traveled to Prescott where they faced a strong squad from Embry-Riddle.  The Beggars held the Eagles scoreless until the 34th minute, which proved to be the only goal surrendered in the first half as Providence buckled down and played solid team soccer. 

In the second half, Embry-Riddle came out early putting pressure on The Beggars to put one away in the 46th minute of play.  The Eagles offense was tough and ended up scoring a 6-0 win over the Lady Sea Beggars.  Providence goalkeeper, Faith Huston, faced a barrage of shots and made 15 saves.

Junior captain, Janelle Lopez said about the road trip, "During our trip to Arizona we were faced with different challenges.  For example, the long travel, temperature increase, and our competitors.  Yet during our games none of these listed challenges mattered.  In our first match against Benedictine, our girls held out the entire match.  Starting strong, Izzy scored a beautiful goal with the assist of freshman, Sutton.  I'm proud of our girl's consistency in their efforts throughout the match.  The final score did not resemble the win our team had taken.  This game was the start of our building block towards success.  Our girls had advanced in working as a team, finding confidence in one another and we're driven with a positive attitude throughout.  As we continued in the next game against Embry Riddle, again we were strong in continuing to work on our building blocks.  As shown in the first half by keeping the game a close one.  Again, the end results did not match the energy, will, and fight the girls had given.  Our heads are held high as we move forward into our next matches, with more confidence and motivation for a win."

The Lady Sea Beggars get a few days to recuperate before hosting Cal Pac opponent Saint Katherine on Thursday September 21^st, at Villa Parke in a 10am start.