Westmont Women’s Soccer (7-7-2, 4-5 GSAC) found it to be tough sledding against the fourth-ranked Mustangs of The Master’s (15-1-1, 8-1) on Tuesday afternoon in Santa Clarita. The Warriors lost the Golden State Athletic Conference game by a score of 2-1.
“I think we showed up for about 20-25 minutes,” said Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. “Those minutes were really good, but it was too late. The damage was already done and we couldn’t come back from it.”
The Mustangs scored in the thirty-fifth minute on a goal by Robyn Estrada and added a second goal just one minute into the second period when Emily Burton scored, assisted by Kristyn Richards. Jenny Martinez accounted for Westmont’s goal in the sixtieth minute when she headed in a corner kick from Ashley Correa.
The loss puts the Warriors in a fifth place tie with Point Loma Nazarene in the GSAC standings with one game remaining in the regular season. As a result of outcomes in other conference games on Tuesday, the Warriors have clinched a spot in the upcoming GSAC Women’s Soccer Tournament. However, their seeding could end up anywhere from fourth to eighth.
In order to get the fourth seed and a home game in the first round of the tournament, several games will have to go the right way for the Warriors this week:
- Westmont must defeat Vanguard (8-5-3, 2-4-2) on Saturday.
- #16 Concordia (9-4-3, 4-2-2) must lose to both San Diego Christian (4-9-3, 0-6-2) on Friday and to #11 California Baptist (11-4-1, 5-3-1) on Saturday.
- Fresno Pacific (5-9-2, 3-5-1) must beat #25 Point Loma Nazarene (5-4-5, 3-3-3) on Saturday.
“We work really hard the next few days,” said Kiely. “The game against Vanguard is even more important as a result of today’s loss. The conference is so inconsistent that anything can still happen. It puts a lot more pressure on Saturday than we would have liked, but I am confident that if we come to play for a full 90 (minutes) that we can have a good amount of success. If we don’t then it could be trouble. We will work hard the next three days and make adjustments. Hopefully we will have the focus and confidence and determination that we will need to be successful on Saturday.”
Adding to the emotion of Saturday will be an honoring of the Warriors’ seniors who will be playing in their last regular season game at Westmont. While kick-off is scheduled for noon, fans are encouraged to arrive early for the Senior Day celebration.
