The women’s soccer team notched a 2-0 win over its alumni Friday night, getting a goal from freshman
Kelly Nikkel and benefiting from an alumni own-goal.
The game was scoreless for the first fifty minutes, before the own-goal gave the 2010 Sunbirds the lead. Minutes later Nikkel, who looked to be crossing the ball, instead found the left side of the net.
Nikkel is one of 15 new players for the Sunbirds in 2010, many of whom will contribute right away.
The athleticism of the 2010 Sunbirds was, in the end, too much for the alumni, who were unable to get anything going offensively. The speed of Tori Alvarez and Jae Slocum consistently shut down alumni opportunities.
GoaliesCatherine Michaelis, Sarah King and Katie Blalock combined on the shutout, but got a lot of help from the strong defense in front of them.
FPU fans will get the first chance to see the 2010 Sunbirds in action tomorrow night, as FPU opens the home schedule at 7 pm, taking on first-year program Marymount College.
The Sunbirds are coming off a season-opening 3-0 loss to Roberts Wesleyan. Coach Erik Farfan stressed that the team needs to be ready to switch from practice mode to game mode.
“We have to be ready for game intensity,” he said. “We tried to work on some things this week and we’ll continue to make adjustments.”
Marymount, coached by former CSU Bakersfield assistant Ben Graham, is playing its first year in the NAIA and features a roster entirely made up of freshmen and sophomores. Ten of the team’s 20 players are from Bakersfield.