Coming into the game with Seattle Pacific University (SPU), SFU was looking to get back on track after a close 1–0 loss to Western Washington. Their opponent was Seattle Pacific, a team with a 5–2–1 record, 2–1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play. It was a good test to see if SFU had a good enough squad to finish in a top four place. While Emma Pringle scored 41 seconds in for SFU, the team couldn’t build off the quick goal, losing 2–1.
“I think we had a strong start,” said head coach Annie Hamel after the game. “And then maybe we were successful too early, and became a little too complacent. We made errors that they capitalized on, and then we don’t on the other end. In this league you can’t make mistakes and not get punished, and can’t leave opportunities unfinished.”
You couldn’t ask for a better start for SFU in this one. Less than a minute in, Pringle scored for the Clan, a bullet shot from 25 yards out. It was the freshman’s fifth goal in seven games, and it looked like there was more to come for the team.
However, the first 20 minutes were the only ones where SFU dominated. In the 24th minute, Seattle Pacific tied it up. Although Priya Sandhu did well to keep the initial shot out, the Falcons’ Maddie Krauss buried the rebound to make it all tied at one.
They weren’t done there. Just before halftime, SPU got a weird goal. Miscommunication from the SFU team led to an errant touch by Teagan Sorokan, which bounced right over Sandhu’s head to make it 2–1. It proved to be the winning goal.
“They play the flick a lot,” said Hamel on the winning goal. “The girls know that, we watch film on them. We let them get into a foot race [. . .] That’s focus and awareness. Hopefully they learn something from it and they’re more aggressive defensively.”
Pringle continues to score at a torrid pace for SFU. While Pringle has been scoring regularly, though, the rest of the team has been in a scoring slump. Of the seven goals that SFU has scored so far, Pringle has five of them; co-captain Olivia Aguiar has the other two.
“Emma takes her chances and opportunities, and finishes them,” said Hamel on the concentration in scoring. “Other people [didn’t] finish in front of goal, [and] you can’t win in this league if you don’t finish.”
