IRVINE — After a scoreless battle for 87 minutes, Westmont gave up a goal in the 88th and suffered a 1-0 loss at No. 25-ranked Concordia in a Golden State Athletic Conference women’s soccer game on Saturday
Sasha Hudson of the Eagles volleyed in a cross from Alyssa McDonald that beat Westmont goalkeeper Roxanne Love. The result leaves Westmont at 5-4-2 overall and 2-2 in the GSAC. Concordia is 7-3-2 and 2-1-1.
“It was a really good goal,” Westmont coach Kristi Kiely said of the game-winner. “There wasn’t much our goalkeeper could have done about it.
“It was a bummer to concede that goal in the last couple of minutes.”
Westmont came out flying at the start of the game and put heavy pressure on the Concordia defense. Aolani Rueff hit two shots wide of the mark and Ashley Correa also had one go just wide.
“The first 10 minutes was one of the best starts we’ve had,” Kiely said. “We haven’t had good starts this year. We’ve had great second halves but not great first halves. We had a great first 10 minutes and then everything went down hill from there.”
The Warriors outshot Concordia 5-1 in the first half, but the Eagles took control of the match in the second half and fired seven shots to Westmont’s four.
“The girls just got too comfortable and too casual, and we stopped being able to connect (passes) and we stopped being able to penetrate well. We got lazy on defense and a little bit lazy on that final pass,” said Kiely.
It was a frustrating afternoon for the coach who earlier in the week watched her team play a solid match in a 1-0 win at Biola.
“It was the best I’ve seen us play, almost,” she said of the Biola match. “(Our performance) didn’t reflect that today. It definitely wasn’t our best showing.”
Kiely cited the play of center back Skyla Lauda and goalkeeper Roxanne Love, who had five saves.
The Warriors are back in action Tuesday at home against Fresno Pacific.
