There are a number of questions surrounding Tuesday’s Westmont Women’s Soccer (4-2-1) game at Cal State San Marcos and Westmont’s athletic administration has begun the process of gathering information to determine whether it will file an official appeal.
As of now, the seventh-ranked Warriors suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to the seventeenth-ranked Cougars. However, there are a number of irregularities regarding the timekeeping of the game and the application of overtime rules. Westmont has 72 hours to file an appeal and will use that time to investigate whether an appeal is warranted.
Cal State San Marcos scored in the second minute of the game when Sarah Hopper headed in a corner kick from Vanessa Novella. The rest of the half remained scoreless.
In the sixty-second minute, Ashley Correa unleashed a shot that hit the crossbar and rebounded back into the field of play to Jenny Martinez. Martinez then kicked in the rebound from four yards out to even the game at one.
Eleven minutes later, Martinez scored again to give Westmont a 2-1 lead. Sophie Judd delivered a pass to Martinez who cut inside, slotted a shot to the far post and found the net.
Part of the controversy comes on the timing of Cal State San Marcos’ equalizer that sent the game into overtime. The box score indicates that in the eighty-eighth minute, Amanda Sears crashed the box on a corner kick from Heather Flores and finished from close range.
The Westmont coaching staff, however, questions the timing of the play, believing that the clock should have expired several minutes before San Marcos’ second goal was scored, eliminating the need for an overtime period.
Overtime was played, however, and in the second minute of the extra period, Westmont committed an own goal off of a San Marcos cross, making the score 3-2 in favor of the Cougars and bringing an end to the game.
Regardless of whether an appeal is filed, Westmont’s season will go forward, beginning on Tuesday, September 25 when the Warriors begin Golden State Athletic Conference play by hosting Vanguard in a 3:30 p.m. game.
