After 110 minutes of play, the first goal has yet to be scored on Westmont’s Thorrington Field.
The Warrior women’s soccer team opened its season on the school’s gorgeous new pitch on Tuesday afternoon against Trinity Western (B.C.), as both teams failed to score despite two 10-minute overtimes.
While there hasn’t been a goal yet, Westmont senior keeper Roxanne Love can at least say she recorded the facility’s first shutout.
Westmont's Jameisha Washington battles for the ball with Trinity Western's Alexi Foster.
“We’re so lucky to have a field like this, and it pushes us even more to have this as our home field. We’re that much more motivated to do well on it,” said Love, who was an NAIA All-American as a sophomore.
The Warriors finished with nine shots while Trinity Western had 11, but each team put four on frame. Westmont dominated possession after halftime, but Love survived two close calls with great stops in the first half. She made a pair of point-blank saves over a heart-stopping 10-second span in the 16th minute. Five minutes later, she blocked a shot right at the goal line and alertly fell on it before it could be knocked in.
Defender Skyla Lauda had two nice takeaways in front of Love before the intermission.
Westmont sophomore Aolani Rueff excited the crowd with a highlight-reel crossover juke early in the second half, but couldn’t turn it into a threatening shot. That theme continued for the rest of the period, particularly when Ashley Correa had a breakaway with three minutes left that was sent off the right post.
“I think we were somewhat sloppy today in our play… Today we weren’t able to connect and do the simple things right,” said coach Kristi Kiely.
Westmont’s bench was standing up and vocal throughout the overtime periods, but nothing materialized offensively.
The Warriors head to Utah to take on Westminster on Saturday.
