Photo: Noelle Davis

PASADENA (Aug. 30, 2019) – The Caltech women's soccer team showed flashes of why this year's squad could be one to be reckoned with in its home opener with Marymount California University on Friday afternoon.

The Beavers came out energized in Head Coach Ellery Gould's head coaching debut and outshot the Mariners 7-0 through the game's first 15 minutes. Over that span, Caltech generated several quality chances and scored its first goal of the season in just the third minute, courtesy of freshman defender Jackie Wang (Winter Park, Fla. / Trinity Preparatory School). The rookie joined the Caltech rush up the left wing and finessed a pass from classmate Reeya Chenanda (Columbus, Ind. / Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities) into the top-right corner of the net over the reach of the opposing goalkeeper.

From there, Marymount began to push back against Caltech's volume-based attack. Center backs Nayla Abney (Sewell, N.J. / Deptford Township) and Catherine Kauber (Pleasantville, N.Y. / Pleasantville) held the Mariners as the teams' shot totals began to level out, but a scrum in front of the Caltech net following a corner kick ultimately led to a Marymount goal to tie the game with five minutes to go in the first half. The Beavers looked to continue to press in the second half, but the visitors' cohesiveness, having played three games prior to Friday, proved to be a difference-maker. However, the Beavers' defense still picked up some key stops as the game progressed, including an athletic header off the goal line by rookie Helen Siavelis (Arlington Heights, Ill. / Prospect). Behind the backline, freshman goalkeeper Valerie Hetherington (Bozeman, Minn. / Deerfield Academy) featured in net for Caltech, stopping 10 shots in the first start of her collegiate career.  

Gould and the Beavers will return to action on Monday, Sept. 2 when they host San Diego Christian College for an 11 a.m. game.

Follow and show support for your Caltech Beavers on Twitter (@CaltechBeavers), Facebook, YouTube and Instagram!