WOMEN’S SOCCER NCAA DIVISION III WEST REGIONAL : CLU Prevails, 3-0, Faces UC San Diego in a Grudge Match

Almost immediately after the Cal Lutheran women’s soccer team tripped Kalamazoo (Mich.) College, 3-0, Saturday in an NCAA Division III West regional semifinal match at UC San Diego, the Regals began talking about beating UCSD in today’s final.

And UCSD had not even begun its semifinal match against St. Mary’s.

But confidence was high after sophomore striker Rachel Wackerman scored a hat trick and goalie JoAnn Vanderwall posted a shutout.

“I think UC San Diego is going to be shocked,” Vanderwall said.

The Regals (17-3) got their desired showdown when UCSD (15-1-2) posted a 5-0 victory over St. Mary’s (13-4) later in the day. The teams will play at 11:30 a.m. at UCSD, to be followed at 2 p.m. by the same schools playing in the men’s semifinal match.

The UCSD women are ranked third nationally, and among their victories is a 1-0 decision over Cal Lutheran.

It is a loss that still gnaws at Cal Lutheran.

“That was only our second game of the season,” CLU freshman midfielder Carla Crawford said. “And they won it on a bad call when they got a penalty kick. That was the only goal in the game. We’re much stronger now and much more composed. We expect to put up a much better fight (today).”

CLU Coach George Kuntz also expressed confidence.

“I think we had seven freshmen starting at that time, and they didn’t really understand the system then,” Kuntz said. “But we’re coming together now and we’re peaking at the right time.”

Despite Cal Lutheran’s midfield dominance, the match remained scoreless in the first half. The Hornets (15-2-1) had the best scoring opportunity early in the half when Jennifer Hofmeister slipped past Cal Lutheran’s defenders on a counterattack and dribbled in on Vanderwall before shooting inches wide of the left post.

A turning point came late in the first half when Hofmeister tried to sprint past three defenders while going for a loose ball in front of the Cal Lutheran goal.

She collided with one of the defenders and injured her left ankle. She was carried off the field and did not return.

“That just deflated their attack,” Kuntz said.

With the exception of Hofmeister’s infrequent breakaways, Kalamazoo did not muster much offense. It recorded only two shots on goal, both in the first half.

Cal Lutheran, meanwhile, managed 11 shots on goal, but none found their mark until 12 minutes into the second half.

That’s when Wackerman scored after Crawford sent a free kick 10 yards in front of the net.

The ball initially bounced off the head of a Kalamazoo defender.

When it sprang high into the air, everyone froze except Wackerman, who judged the trajectory and met up with the ball about five yards off the left post where she let it bounce off her and into the net.

“I just put my body in there,” Wackerman said. “I just tried to get anything on it I could.”

As far as Cal Lutheran junior forward Vanessa Martin was concerned, it was typical of Wackerman.

“She’s always in the right place at the right time,” Martin said. “You just have to kick the ball and you know she’s going to be there.”

Wackerman was there again 25 minutes later when she ran down a long crossing pass from Catherine Graham in the penalty area and headed it past goalie Heidi Buchele.

Wackerman scored her final goal--this time unassisted--with less than three minutes remaining, sneaking a shot past two defenders that skimmed inside the post.

* MASTER’S REACHES FINAL: The Mustangs rallied from a second-half deficit to beat Fresno Pacific in a shootout in an NAIA Area 2 match. C19