Cal Poly Women’s Soccer fell 5-0 to Washington inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Sept. 19.
“We are not happy about the result, but these kinds of games make us stronger,” head coach Alex Crozier said.
The Huskies (4-2-2) entered the match coming off a 3-1 upset win against then-No. 17 TCU on the road, and won four of their last five matches. On the other hand, the Mustangs (2-6-1) had put together an impressive 3-1 win against Idaho State on Sept. 15.
The Huskies scored the first goal of the match in the 18th minute when forward Kennedy Smith capitalized off a blocked shot by senior goalkeeper Sophia Brown.
Four minutes later, Huskies forward Summer Yates scored off a cross delivered to the far post by midfielder Isabella Castro. The goal from a 2018 Pac-12 All-Freshman player gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead 22 minutes into the match.
With a minute left to play in the first half, the Huskies extended their lead to 3-0 thanks to a Castro tap-in goal assisted by sophomore Karlee Stueckle.
“They came into the game and made the game [their own],” freshman midfielder Camille Lafaix said.
The Huskies did not lift their foot off the gas as Yates scored her second goal of the match in the 50th minute off a one-on-one opportunity against Brown. The goal was set up with an upfield pass from defender Helena Reischling to extend the lead to 4-0.
Washington secured their fifth and final goal of the match with six minutes remaining from full-time when Ally Remington scored a follow-up shot that was initially deflected by Brown.
“They are a very good team so we had to play well to stay in it, and it got away from us,” Crozier said.
Washington was able to control the match as they had 25 shots (11 on goal) compared to the Mustangs’ 8 shots (3 on goal). Brown made six saves against the Huskies’ 11 shots. The Huskies also recorded 13 corner kick attempts compared to zero corners for the Mustangs.
“They were a little bit physically bigger than us, [which] just gives us the experience to come out tougher when conference starts,” Crozier said.
The Mustangs will look to learn from their mistakes in preparation for conference play, which begins Thursday, Oct. 3 against Long Beach State.
“We should not be dwelling on the past, but we should definitely be working and thinking about the future,” Lafaix said.