(COLUMBIA, Ky.) A pair of goals in the first 20 minutes propelled #2 Westmont (5-0) to a 2-0 win over #3 Lindsey Wilson of Kentucky (2-1) in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Game of the Week. The Warriors outshot the Blue Raiders 11-9 but more importantly, notched a 7-2 shots-on-goal advantage.
“There were so many good performances,” said Westmont head coach Kristy Kiely. “I thought Courtney (Stonesifer) and Christine (Adams) brought a lot of pressure down the right side to start the game. I thought our middle with Brooke (Lillywhite), Tiffany (Dimaculangan) and Kaci (Mexico) was fantastic. Tiff has done a lot of important work that doesn’t make it into the stat sheet. I’m really proud of her.
“Kelsey Steck did a great job running up top for us for a lot of minutes. Malory Mitchell has shown a lot of leadership as a senior captain and has been a part of a lot of goals as of late.”
Adams put the ball in the goal in the seventh minute of play, giving the Warriors a 1-0 advantage.
“Kelsie did a lot of hard work to draw a corner,” reported Kiely. “Malory delivered a beautiful corner. The keeper got a save off a shot by Brooke Lillywhite and Christine was there to finish off the rebound.”
Westmont’s second goal was a long distance bomb from sophomore Grace Lemley.
“That goal was the result of great combining on the left side of the field,” noted Kiely “Grace made an incredible shot from 40 yards out that found the back post.
“We executed our game plan well the first 25-30 minutes of the first half and then I thought we survived a little bit. Then we came out strong again in the second half, but at the end Lindsey Wilson was pressing people forward and I thought we survived a bit again.”
The win sets up a showdown between top-ranked Concordia (Ore.) and Westmont next Friday at Thorrington field. It is also a rematch of the 2013 National Championship title game.
“Obviously, Concordia won the national championship last year and they had that success for a reason,” said Kiely. “We have a lot of drive and energy for that game because of how it ended up in the national tournament. We are excited to have them on our home field, but we know it will not be easy. We hope these two games this weekend will help us prepare for it.”
Kick-off next Friday is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
