After 96 minutes of scoreless soccer, #5 Point Loma Nazarene’s Gina Shulte headed in a cross from Katie Pedlowe to give the Sea Lions (18-1-1) a 1-0 overtime win against #13 Westmont Women’s Soccer (12-6).
“As a staff, we are not disappointed in how the team played,” said Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. “They played incredibly hard with a lot of determination and effort. The challenge was trying to get it down the field in the sloppy mess.
“We had some chances. We had one that went off the post and an incredible shot by Ashley that was going upper-V that the keeper got a hand on and touched it over. We probably should have had one PK where Tiffany was taken down in the box.”
The win means that Point Loma Nazarene will advance to the championship game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament, where they will face #4 Azusa Pacific (13-2-1). The Cougars earned their spot in the GSAC finals by virtue of a 2-1 win over The Master’s (10-9-1).
Westmont will now await word on a possible at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament. The tournament begins on Saturday, November 19 with opening round games played at campus locations. If an invitation arrives on November 13 to the tournament, the Warriors could host the opening round game.
The elements played their part in the game, with a storm front moving in during the last fifteen minutes of regulation. The rain and wind came in earnest during the overtime period.
“We anticipated that the weather would be what it was,” said Kiely. “The weather can be a great equalizer or it can be something that hinders your particular style. We didn’t quite find our rhythm, but it was a certainly a battle. I don’t think I have ever been more proud of the effort the team put in.”
The Sea Lions outshot the Warriors 15-12; however, the Warriors placed seven of their shots on goal with the Sea Lions recording six. Point Loma Nazarene held an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks.
“Now we just wait,” said Kiely referring to the possibility of an at-large berth. “We will be out on the field on Monday, training, working on the things we need to work on and growing from this situation. We’ll come out hard every day next week and hope and pray that a few games will go our way and we can get ourselves into the national tournament.”
