BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Callan Harrington, Jennessa Groves and
Kylie Dobbs all scored to help the Lions overcome a halftime deficit to defeat Cal State Bakersfield 3-1 on Thursday night in Bakersfield, Calif.
The Roadrunners struck first, but the Lions turned up the pressure in the second half that was spurred by an unbelievable one-on-one save from JJ Hoover. Faced with the chance of potentially going down 2-0, Hoover made a sliding stop as the last defender to knock the ball away from the Bakersfield attack.
After the Hoover stop, the Lions responded with Harrington's first goal in the Lions shirt.
Maci Land played a superb ball over the top of the Roadrunners' defense that Harrington latched onto. She set herself up with a nice touch before deftly sliding the ball past the goalkeeper. The ball glanced off the inside of the post and in to tie the match at one.
The momentum swung in favor of LMU after the first goal came. Next up, it was Groves' opportunity to add to her goal tally as a Lion. She took a ball from near midfield, made a darting run up the middle of the pitch, and used a pair of ball feints before driving a shot into the far post. The goalkeeper could only watch as the ball floated into the corner, giving the Lions the lead for good.
Dobbs is almost expected to score these days, notching her sixth tally in seven games. The Roadrunners overplayed a goal kick trying to pass back to the back line and Dobbs outran everybody before calmly setting up her favorite left and driving it underneath the sliding goalkeeper. She will move into a tie for 11th in the nation in total goals with her sixth goal. She nearly scored a stunning curling goal earlier in the match but was denied by the crossbar.
After the third goal of the match, the Lions were keen to play out the rest of the game from the corner, using the strength of Groves, Land and Dobbs to see out the final five minutes with little resistance from the Roadrunners.
The Lions will be back in action on Thursday, September 19 in a trip to Cal State Fullerton. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. (PT) and will be live streamed on ESPN+.
