Westmont Women’s Soccer (13-0-3, 7-0-2 GSAC), ranked third in the NAIA, put on an offensive display on Tuesday afternoon at Thorrington Field, defeating Hope International (3-11-3, 1-7-1) by a score of 6-0 in a Golden State Athletic Conference contest.
Westmont’s first goal came in the 16h minute when Courtney Stonesifer’s shot from the left side curved past defenders and hit the inside of the far post. In the 35th minute, Sophia Smati dribble down the center of the field, then passed to Tiffany Dimaculangan who was running alongside. Dimaculangan dribbled past several defenders and then passed forward to Kaci Mexico who connected from five yards out for the goal.
Westmont scored its third goal of the half in the 43rd minute with a triangle offense that would have made Phil Jackson smile. From the left side, Smati passed the ball to Mexico on the right. Mexico then passed back to Brooke Lillywhite in the center of the field who fired off a shot from the top of the 18.
The Warriors did not score again until the 78th minutes. K.J. Hornibrook passed the ball from the baseline just right of the goal to Lillywhite in front of the goal. Lillywhite shot from just three yards out to complete the score.
Five minutes later, Smati added another goal. Kaitlin Swift served a ball from the right sideline that Smati redirected into the net.
The final goal came in the 86th minute. Swift sent in another ball from the right sideline, nearly 30 feet from the baseline. A defender got her head on it, but the ball’s momentum carried it into the goal for the score.
Lindsey Smith and Lauren Dorr combined for the shutout. Smith and Dorr have combined for six shutouts this season and Smith has tallied another six shutouts on her own. The Warriors have outscored their opponents 38-6 this season.
With one game remaining in the regular season, Westmont is in second place in the GSAC standings with 23 points (three points for a win, one for a tie). #8 Concordia (13-0-3, 8-0-1), which leads the GSAC with 25 points, all but secured the regular season championship with a 2-1 win at #15 The Master’s (13-4, 5-4). Concordia will conclude GSAC regular season play at Arizona Christian on Saturday.
Concordia and Westmont are the only two unbeaten teams in the NAIA.
#10 Vanguard (13-2, 6-2) is in third place in the GSAC with 18 points but still has two GSAC games remaining on its schedule. Tomorrow, Vanguard will host San Diego Christian (8-6-1, 2-5-1). Then Saturday, the Lions will travel to Santa Barbara to take on the Warriors in what will likely be a battle for second place in the GSAC. The winner will claim the second seed and a first round bye in next week’s GSAC Tournament.
