Junior Melanie Greene scored in the thirty-third minute and senior goalkeeper Roxanne Love recorded her fourteenth career shutout as Westmont Women’s Soccer (5-3-2, 2-1 GSAC) defeated Biola (4-3-2, 1-1-1 GSAC) by a score of 1-0. The goal was the second of Greene’s collegiate career and the first this year.
“Mel has been working hard on finishing,” said Kiely, “It was good to see her rewarded for that. There were a lot of people involved in the goal. After playing it around from sideline to sideline, JJ (Jameisha Washington) passed it to Mel at the top of the box. Mel fired off a rocket past the keeper.”
With the win, the Warriors moved into a tie for third place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standing with #11 California Baptist (8-3, 2-2 GSAC). Westmont has tallied six points in the GSAC standings (three points for a win and one for tie). Fifth-ranked The Master’s (11-0-1, 4-0 GSAC) sits on top of the conference with 12 points with #2 Azusa Pacific (8-0-2, 3-0-1 GSAC) in second with 10 points.
“It was a fun game to be a part of,” said Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. “It was two good teams going at it for 90 minutes. I think we are moving in the right direction. I am proud of the way the team played the whole game. We have been working on being a high pressure team and Biola didn’t know what to do with it.”
Love recorded three saves in the game to earn the shutout.
“Roxanne had a great game, including a couple of really big saves,” noted Kiely. “At the end of the game, she just got her hand on a ball to punch it away.”
Kiely was also pleased with the play of Aolani Rueff and Britney Scannell.
“Aolani was a difference maker in the game,” said the coach. “About 20 minutes into the game we moved Aolani into the midfield. She was able to drive at people, putting herself and her teammates in dangerous scoring situations.
“It was nice to have Brit Scannell back for a full 90 minutes,” continued the coach. “She has been playing injured the last couple of weeks.”
Two more players that Kiely mentioned were forward Ashley Correa and defender Amanda Diesen.
“Ashley was a big contributor,” reported Kiely. “She worked very hard, penetrated their defense up top and combined well with other players. Amanda had another good game for us in the back, especially in the second half.”
The Warriors will next play on Saturday when they take on the Eagles of Concordia in Irvine at noon.
