UC Merced women’s soccer uses flurry to erase slow start in season-opening win

Elizabeth Cruz admits it’s a work in progress.

With the bulk of the UC Merced women’s soccer team underclassmen a year ago, slow starts were the norm. The effort was always there, but the Bobcats occasionally took the pitch without the intensity or confidence they were looking for.

Cruz feels progress has been made, but Tuesday afternoon’s 3-0 season-opening victory over the Oregon Institute of Technology showed there’s still room for improvement. Merced used the opening 15 minutes as a feeling-out period, controlling the play but not really dictating anything.

Once the Bobcats got going, however, there was no stopping them. Daisy Bonilla settled everything down with a blast from 30 yards out into the top left corner to open the scoring in the 16th minute. Cruz added a goal and an assist as UCM struck three times in 18 minutes to secure a comfortable victory at Lake Field.

“Unfortunately, it’s usually like that,” Cruz said of the slow start. “It’s not supposed to be that way, and it was better than last year, but it definitely took us a while to settle in.

“The first goal helped. Everybody’s confidence went up, and we started playing a little smarter and a little more aggressively. Then we scored two more right after it. That’s how we want it. Everyone on our team picks it up while the other team is rattled.”

The formula certainly worked Tuesday, as the Bobcats (1-0) became economical with their chances.

Finishing had been a point of emphasis in the offseason. UCM struggled with its final touch early, missing its first seven shots. Bonilla changed all that in the 16th minute when Claudia Diaz made an innocent-looking pass to her in the middle from the left wing. The junior midfielder seemed to catch Oregon Tech goalkeeper Emma Niskanen by surprise on the play, as she didn’t move on the shot.

Veronica Villacorta doubled the scoreline eight minutes later, heading in a Cruz corner kick to make it 2-0.

Cruz finished the scoring in the 34th minute, pouncing on an Owls turnover at the top of the 18-yard box. The junior wing one-timed a left-footed rocket that again left Niskanen (three saves) frozen.

UC Merced didn’t ease up from there, having two second-half shots cleared off the line in addition to Merced High School grad Niccole Salm drilling the crossbar in her collegiate debut.

Bobcats goalkeeper Maggie Morales got her first clean sheet of the season without having to make a save as Oregon Tech (0-1) was limited to one shot.

“It was a good season opener for us,” coach Megan Atoigue said. “We knew we’re going to see tougher competition, so it was nice to get some early goals and be able to sub a lot of people in.

“It took us a while to get going, and there were times we played too much at their pace – which is what I told them at halftime – but a good solid win all the way around. Now we have a tough one at Menlo on Saturday.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 7:29 PM with the headline "UC Merced women’s soccer uses flurry to erase slow start in season-opening win."