Westmont’s Lindsey Smith lays out for one of her stops in Saturday’s PK shoot out.
Staring down Westminster’s upset bid in the first round of the NAIA Tournament, Westmont’s women’s soccer team came from behind twice on Saturday and advanced into the second round by edging the Griffins in a penalty-kick shootout.
Lindsey Smith stopped two shots in the shootout and Westmont converted all four of its chances to win 4-1. The game was tied 2-2 after regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods.
Amanda Diesen chases down teammate Sofia Smati after Smati’s game-tying goal in the 78th minute.
Even though it was the first penalty shoot out of the season for the Warriors, they were ready.
“It’s just a lot of practice,” Smith said. “We’ve been practicing for the last couple of weeks, just PKs, and taking a lot of them. Like 40 or 50 after practice.”
Smith said she can predict where the shooter is going and she went the right way every time, stopping the third and fourth attempts from Westminster after two makes.
“Just seeing the way that people move. You focus on hips as a goalkeeper so you just watch people’s hips,” Smith said. “You don’t guess, but you know it’s going to go that way and you just prepare yourself to go.”
Smith made the stops when she needed to but wished it never had to get to that point.
“You never want to get it to PKs just because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Freshman Grace Lemley scored the game-winner in the shoot-out, following makes by Alison Hensley, Jenny Martinez and Christine Adams. Lemley raced back into the arms of cheering teammates, who were all then surrounded by students running onto the field from the stands.
Westmont, the second seed in the national tournament, fell behind 1-0 and 2-1. Kelsey Steck drew the Warriors even first with a goal in the 35th minute. After falling behind again, Sofia Smati saved Westmont’s season with a 25-yard blast from the corner of the penalty box that rocketed into the upper-right corner of the goal.
“I’m really proud of the girls for sticking with it,” said Warriors head coach Kristi Kiely.
The second round of the NAIA Tournament isn’t until December 2 & 3 in Mobile, Alabama.
Lexi Tucker scored both goals for Westminster. The Griffins finish their season with a record of 11-8-2.
The Warriors (16-1-3) will take on No. 15-seed Martin Methodist (Tenn.) in the second round on December 2 in Mobile, Alabama. Martin Methodist (16-5-1) advanced by defeating Trinity International (Ill.) on Saturday by a score of 4-1.
It was a hard-fought match, with Kaci Mexico coming down with a head wound after competing for a ball on a corner kick with Westminster’s Maddie Lewis.
