Azusa, Cali.- ACU Women's Soccer responded excellently to their first conference loss with an emphatic 5-1 win over Life Pacific. A total of seven players contributed to the Firestorm's five goals, Cami Mercado and Shayla Mobo each netting two. The Firestorm officially set a program record for most wins in a regular season (9) and now are the third GSAC team to reach four conference wins on the season (Hope International and OUAZ are the other two).

Score: Arizona Christian 5, Life Pacific 1
Records: Arizona Christian 9-3-1 (4-1-0) | Life Pacific 1-11-0 (0-7-0)
Location: Cougar Soccer Complex - Azusa, CA

STAT TRACKER

Shayla Mobo - 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 shots on goal
Cami Mercado - 2 goals, 2 shots on goal
Tatum Dowell - 1 goal
Alyssa Mercado - 1 assist, 1 shot on goal
Justyne Underwood - 1 assist, 1 shot
Sierra Kruyswijk - 1 assist
Kiersten Baca - 1 assist
Brenna Sonsini - 2 saves

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

In a dominant first period, Shayla Mobo sent in ACU's first shot on goal in the 9th minute. Cami Mercado capitalized on the deflection from Life Pacific goalkeeper Melanie Cruz and got the Firestorm on the board first. Following three Warrior yellow cards in a 14-minute span, Mercado cruised down an open lane and made Life Pacific pay with her second goal and 12th goal of 2023 in the 27th minute.

Bianca Cruz first appeared on the stat sheet with a shot on target in the 34th minute that Melanie Cruz would save. Fast-forward two minutes, ACU kept the pedal down and their fortunes persisted as Shayla Mobo was the beneficiary of an own goal by Life Pacific. Mobo and Grace Carney would try two more shots, but the Firestorm happily took a 3-0 advantage into the break.

After not getting off a single shot attempt in the first period, the Warriors' Edith Mendoza broke the ice. Brenna Sonsini, who entered the second half in relief of Tayler Wonderly, handled her first save. However, Life Pacific did find some daylight with Ellyanna Edwards beating ACU's back line and scoring to make it a two-goal game in the 48th minute.

Life Pacific's offensive push was not quelled, as Kayleigh Works sent a ball wide just two minutes down the road. The Firestorm responded quickly, Mobo earning her second goal of the game in the 56th minute thanks to touches from Justyne Underwood and Alyssa Mercado. In the next 20 minutes of play, ACU would sniff yet another breakthrough with three corner kicks and shots on goal by Cadence Peroff and Alyssa Mercado.

Sonsini repelled the Warriors' final shot, coming off the foot of Edwards with 9:33 remaining. With only two minutes left, Tatum Dowell delivered ACU's last blow, netting a goal after touches by Sierra Kruyswijk and Kiersten Baca. A 5-1 margin was exactly it when the buzzer sounded, ACU matching their highest scoring game of the season (5-0 against Jessup).

THOUGHTS FROM COACH GINA CORMIER

"We are happy to get back on track with a conference win on the road," Coach Cormier said. "We have been working hard and I'm proud to see that work show on the field tonight. We are excited to head down the stretch of conference play with final games that will test our team and hopefully provide solid momentum for the conference tournament."

NEXT MATCH

The Lady Firestorm close out their regular season with two home matches, the first being against Vanguard on October 26th with kickoff at 8:00 PM. Gina Cormier seeks her 10th win in her first season as head coach on Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. Follow the action with live stats at https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary and watch the game at https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/. 


Roll Storm!