After ninety-two minutes of a hard-fought, first round GSAC Tournament Women’s Soccer game in Santa Clarita, The Mustang’s Emily Bruton found the back of the net to give fourth-ranked The Master’s (16-2-1) a 1-0 overtime victory over Westmont. The loss brings an end to the Warrior’s season with a record of 7-8-3. It was the sixth overtime game of the year for the Warriors.
Westmont's Jenny Martinez shields the ball from a defender (photos by Ron Smith/courtesy Westmont Sports Information).
“I think we had a good run on both sides of the ball,” assessed Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. “I told the team before overtime (began) that no matter what happens I am really proud of them and how they came out today. The number one thing that The Master’s is good at is pressure. That is the kind of soccer that I want to play and that we are trying to incorporate and develop here. I thought that (today) we played better high pressure style than The Master’s did. I thought we did well and took it to them for a good portion of the game. But soccer is silly that way. In overtime we weren’t on. There was a jumble in the box and they walk away with the win.”
The game marked the final game for eight seniors – Roxanne Love, Brooke Johnson, Britney Scannell, Jenna Nelson, Skyla Lauda, Jameisha Washington, Candace Marques and Kayla Barkett.
Love, the Warriors’ starting keeper for four years, ends her career with 243 saves, third on the Warriors’ career list. Her 3.74 saves per game also ranks third, while her 1.03 goals-against-average is fifth at 1.03. She also ties Emalia Cornwall for fourth in career shutouts with 15.
“They are fantastic people,” said Kiely of the departing eight. “My goal was to make it farther than we had in the past three years. We didn’t do that and that is a bummer. But I wanted more than anything else to make it to the national tournament for the seniors. That hurts and stings a little bit more.
“I think each of our seniors gave everything that they could. Brooke (Johnson) came in and had great minutes. Candace (Marques) is playing with some injuries and is giving us everything she can. Jameisha (Washington) was working hard and Brit (Scannell) is done. I mean her legs are done and she still was cutting everything off and winning balls and serving great balls. Skyla and Rox had a great performance. You can tell the seniors didn’t want to end. In the end, it wasn’t enough to get us the goal.”
The only senior who couldn’t take the field – Kayla Barkett – was cheering from the sideline. Barkett suffered a season-ending injury early this season but has continued to be an integral part of the team.
Alison Hensley had a great performance. What a great feeling that she is a freshman. I thought she was fantastic defensively, offensively, smart, strong stable. And now we have her for three years.
The Master’s will advance to the GSAC semifinals on Friday when they will host California Baptist. The Lancers defeated Biola today 3-1. The other semifinal will feature Concordia at Azusa Pacific.
