In a match-up of NAIA top-ten teams, No. 9 Westmont Women’s Soccer started the 2012 season by posting a 2-2 tie at No. 6 Baker (Kan.). Playing in the Midwest heat in Baldwin City, the Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior midfielder Aolani Rueff in the twenty-ninth minute, assisted by senior forward Ashley Correa.
“We had great energy to start,” reported Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. “Ashley was able to find Lani behind their back line. Lani made a great run and had great courage. She got tangled up with the keeper but was able to dink it past her. Lani was absolutely fantastic for us. She played all 110 minutes on the turf where it was 100 degrees and she never stopped running. I was glad to see her rewarded for that.”
Less than three minutes later, however, Baker’s Alexa Fryer evened the score at one.
“We had a bad pass out of the back,” said Kiely. “They were able to pick it off and go to goal with a quality finish. Baker is a very tough side, a physical side. We play two very different styles. As far as possession goes, I think we kept the ball better and longer. But they certainly got in behind us quite a few times. That meant a lot of work for our backs. Baker was doing shuttle runs most of the game.
“We regrouped at halftime, mostly making mental adjustments to choose to play the way that we wanted to play,” said Kiely. “We did a pretty good job of that. We let one slip through and that is how they got their (second half) goal. They got it out wide, crossed it in and were able to finish. We just weren’t sharp to it.”
Baker’s second goal came in the seventy-fifth minute with Ashley Sampson scoring on a pass from Liz Todd. Like the Warrior’s one-goal lead in the first half, however, Baker’s 2-1 lead would not last long.
“Ashley got the ball out wide and passed it to Kaci Mexico who had a beautiful header in past the keeper to make it 2-2,” described Kiely of Westmont’s goal in the seventy-ninth minute.
Two overtime periods proved to be scoreless, leaving the game in a stalemate.
“In the overtimes we played very well and had the ball most of the time,” noted Kiely. “We had some really good chances. We missed a couple of sitters, we had one cleared off the line and we hit one from eight yards out over the goal. We just couldn’t come away with a goal.”
“I’m proud of our players for going up a goal and I’m proud of them for coming back after being down,” said Kiely. “But I’m bummed that there was ever a point that we had to comeback. There are definitely good things to take away and things we need to learn from. Hopefully we can make the adjustments quickly because we come back out on this field tomorrow.”
The Warriors will play again tomorrow on the same field, taking on Missouri Valley (0-0) at 11:00 a.m. PDT.
