Soul were electric Saturday afternoon in a sunny Pride Day fixture versus San Juan SC at Merritt College, as a Shae Murison brace and a clean sheet from Katie Plachy led Oakland to a 4-0 victory, handing San Juan their first loss of the 2025 USL W League season.
Both squads began the match looking sharp. Clean passing and clever play led to some gorgeous soccer in the midfield, but neither side could break the other through the first phase of play.
This changed in the 15th minute of the match when Soul opened the scoring. It was Shae Murison with her 9th goal of the season after great passing in Soul’s attacking third led to a final cross in the box from Charlotte Kohler. Sydney Middaugh executed a perfect dummy to draw the lone defender, and the ball eventually found Murison who buried the wide open shot to the right side of goal to give soul a 1-0 lead.
Soul built on the momentum of this goal and continued to dominate for the rest of the first half, easily earning the majority of scoring chances through the first 45.
San Juan adjusted their tactics in the second half, putting high press on Soul that momentarily slowed Oakland’s attacking efforts.
But Soul quickly made adjustments of their own, and doubled their lead in the 64th minute after a set piece service from the left side of the San Juan box led to a netfront scrum. Soul’s Arianna Veland managed to get a shot off, and the keeper made the initial save, but a premium rebound found Murison just inside the left post who finished the play to earn her brace and give Oakland a 2-0 lead.
This goal began a chain reaction of Soul scores as San Juan began to look frustrated on the pitch.
In the 72nd minute Soul made it three when a turnover just on the edge of the attacking third was created by Sydney Middaugh who caught the San Juan keeper off her line, sending in a long shot that went off the fingertips of the keeper and into the twine.
Oakland earned their fourth and final goal to finish the rout in the 82nd minute when Kohler pinged one off the crossbar. The rebound found Murison once again, who this time played a baby pass to Allie Montoya who made no mistake with the finish to put San Juan away for good.
Soul will return to Merritt College for their next action on Thursday at 6 PM PT for a match versus The Olympic Club in their final home game of the 2025 season.
Oakland Soul SC vs San Juan SC
USL W League | June 22, 2025
Venue: Merritt College
Kickoff: 3:00 PM PT
Weather: 70 degrees, sunny
SCORELINE:
OAK: 4
SJ: 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: Shae Murison 15’
OAK: Shae Murison 64’
OAK: Sydney Middaugh 72’
OAK: Allie Montoya 82’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
SJ: Alyssa Savig 38’ (yellow card)
OAK: Tatiana Cunningham 38’ (yellow card)
OAKLAND SOUL LINEUP: Kate Plachy, Audrey Lam (Malia Yamamoto), Arianna Veland, Sam Tran (Allie Montoya), Tatiana Cunningham, Charlotte Kohler (Joelle Jung), Miriam Hils (Clare Robke), Emilia Eriksen (Laura Gouvin), Sophie Murdock, Sydney Middaugh (Gabby Rodil), Shae Murison (Keely Roy)
Unused subs: Reina Bonta, Dina Frenkel
Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 6 | Offsides: 1
SAN JUAN LINEUP: Megan Rucker, Tanner Strickland (Jocelyn Pearcy), Isabella Visonhaler, Summer Humphreys, Jalana Kimber (Mckayla Farrell), Gabrielle Ferraro (Kylie Garcia), Karla Sandoval (Macey Gaunt), Kristie Braken-Guelke (Lauren Anderson), Lena Bailey, Sophia Moness (Kate Zimmerman), Alyssa Savig
Unused subs: Tessa Ferguson
Shots: 4 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 7 | Offsides: 3