IRVINE, Calif. – Angely Puga and Hypasha Garcia netted goals to spur the Hope International women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Soka on Thursday at the OC Great Park.
The Royals improved to 3-1-0 overall and remained unbeaten in GSAC play at 2-0-0. The Lions fell to 1-2-2 overall in their GSAC opener.
Puga notched her conference-best tying sixth goal and Garcia added her first, as the Royals sit in first place in the GSAC with six points.
HIU narrowly outshot Soka 12-11 and had an 8-5 edge in corner kicks.
Puga put the Royals up 1-0 in the 13th minute. She struck a left-footed shot from 20 yards out that deflected off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net.
The Royals angled for a second score with six corner kick opportunities in the first half, but settled for the 1-0 lead at the break.
HIU tacked on its second goal in the 55th minute. On the right flank, Garcia lifted up an offering that appeared intended for Emma Valenzuela in the box. Valenzuela screened her defender and the Soka goalie, and the ball squirted through into the left corner of the net as Garcia scored on the 40-yarder.
The Lions halved their deficit in the 59th minute when Bijou Bolton hit a cross to Valentina Ibañez in the middle of the box. Ibañez settled the pass and beat HIU goalie Victoria Ruiz to the far post.
Soka had four more shot attempts the remainder of the game, two of which were saved by Ruiz. The graduate student netminder finished with four saves, while Lion counterpart Jazlynn Camacho also had four.
The Royals spread out their 12 shots for the game among 10 different players, with Puga owning a team-high three attempts.
HIU looks to maintain first place in the GSAC standings next Thursday, hosting The Master's for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff inside the OC Great Park Stadium.
