by Kyle Trembley
Lauren Johnson’s three goals in the first 21 minutes put the game out of reach early, as CSUSM women’s soccer cruised to a 5-1 victory at home over Chapman University.
The #16-ranked Cougars improve to 6-1-5 on the season. Chapman, a member of NCAA Division III, drops to 7-4.
CSUSM came out absolutely on fire on Saturday, and the team’s first 20 minutes was very likely the best stretch of soccer that the home fans have seen this season. The Cougars got to every loose ball, won every 50/50 chance, and played with a tenacity that overwhelmed their opponent.
As the team has learned this season though, it’s one thing to dominate play, but it takes something else to translate that into goals. Today the Cougars did just that, thanks largely to Johnson.
In the ninth minute, Taylor Schurman, who was among the many Cougars that had a fantastic game, hit a dangerous ball into the box. It ricocheted off the crossbar, and was eventually poked home by Johnson to put CSUSM up 1-0.
Not long after, Schurman once again carried the ball down the right flank, hitting another excellent cross into the box. This time it found Johnson cleanly, who crushed a shot into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
Johnson wasted little time in making it a hat trick – the first of the season for CSUSM – taking advantage of a Taylor Ziencina cross and punching it home to make it 3-0.
That would end the first half scoring, and Chapman came out with renewed motivation in the second half, controlling play for a stretch that resulted in a goal by Aimee Evans.
But CSUSM would regain control and put the contest away late. In the 71st minute, Ziencina and Breanna Brenton combined for a corner kick goal for the second straight game, with Brenton using her height and aerial skills to get a clean header off past the Chapman keeper.
And finally, with just 16 seconds left to play, Kelsey Gunion hit a nice through ball that found Arielle Cohen, who dribbled in one-on-one with the keeper and slid it by for her third goal in two games.
Since a two-week mid-season break, CSUSM has now scored 11 goals in its two games. Prior to that, the Cougars had scored 3 goals in their previous 6 matches.
The Cougars will be back in action this Wednesday at San Diego Christian.