Ashlyn Dvorak Stands Tall for Cougars in 2-1 Win Over Redhawks
PULLMAN, Wash. — As Washington State’s PA began his 10 second remaining countdown, the Redhawks got it to their leading scorer on the season, U'i Kaaihue, with a clean look at the goal. It came off her left foot as a straight-line drive into Wazzu goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak’s chest for a fitting final test in her career-night leading the Cougs’ 2-1 win over Seattle U Wednesday night at Lower Soccer Field.
Dvorak recorded a career-high 13 saves, building off her previous best nine saves just one game ago against Cal State Fullerton. 13 saves put Dvorak beside two other Cougs in a tie for fifth-most saves in a single game.
Dvorak’s heroics were set up from a picture perfect Wazzu start when Isabella Amado put the Cougs on the board in just 54 seconds. Amado handled the ball on the right side of the field with a teammate streaking down the sideline. This put the Redhawk defender in a bind, but she committed to denying the pass. Amado made the right read and took the space, getting all the way into the penalty box and placing it top right for the sixth-fastest goal in program history.
After this goal, Dvorak withstood a flurry of Redhawk shots as the visitors tried to counter. In a four-minute span, Seattle placed four shots on goal, with the final seeming like a Redhawk equalizer, but VAR (Video Assistant Referee) took the goal off the board.
The Redhawks found a rhythm and continued to dominate time of possession. The only blemish on Dvorak’s box score came in the 27th minute. Seattle U’s Leila Leano received a ball on the penalty box line with her back facing the goal. She flipped her hips 180 degrees before any Coug cold contest her shot that found the left side of the net.
As Dvorak said postgame, the Cougs knew there was still a lot of time left and Seattle would have its moments. The Redhawks came into Pullman red-hot prior to kickoff. They won their last two games by a combined 8-1. They scored four goals on both Oregon State and Central Washington.
Meanwhile, the Cougs offense came into the night at a standstill. They had just one goal in their last three games, and were coming off back-to-back draws. Looking at the full season tells a similar story. Seattle U averages 2.22 goals per game to Wazzu’s 0.88 and the Redhawks put up nine more shots per game than the Cougs.
Knowing Seattle’s explosive offense would continue pouring in, Wazzu head coach Chris Citowicki challenged his team to finish the strong.
“35 days ago when we started against Idaho, we know how that finished [3-0 loss] and here we are. We have a chance to close out non-conference, what's it going to look like? Do we play to our identity or do we get rattled out of identity?” Citowicki said. “For us to maintain it when they had the flow and it looked like the game might get away from us shows you how much we have matured.”
Dvorak did not allow a goal for the rest of the game, it just came down to the Cougars finding enough offense. In the 62nd minute, the Cougars earned two corner kicks. On the second one, the ball found its way to Emma Widmor in the left corner. She dribbled to the end line and sent in a low cross off her left foot. Both Makena Smith and a Redhawk defender made contact with it but it still managed to find the back of the net for goal.
The Redhawks did not roll over, as they still controlled most of the possession for the next 25 minutes but could not find an equalizer. The Redhawks finished with 22 shots and 14 shots on goal to the Cougars eight shots and two shots on goal.
Receiving plenty of time to enjoy the victory and rest up, the Cougars will enjoy two weeks off before the start of Pac-12 play against Oregon State October 1 at 6 PM PT.
