(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) It took two goals off the foot of junior Brooke Lillywhite for the #9 Warriors (8-2-1, 4-0-1) to triumph in today’s neck and neck game against the Mustangs of #23 The Master’s college (5-6-1, 2-2). The final result of the game was 2-1.
The Mustangs quickly made their strong physical presence known when they scored the first goal of the game in just the fifth minute of the match.
The goal began when Vanessa Lourenco intercepted a pass around midfield and quickly transitioned into offense. She crossed the ball from the left sideline to Lynnae George who slotted the ball into the right side of the goal from six yards out
“They pressed hard and we made an early and silly mistake,” explained head coach Chantel Cappuccilli. “They took advantage of their moment, transitioned quickly, and put it away.”
The Warriors responded with resiliency. In the next 15 minutes, they took a total of six shots (one fourth of their total shots taken) until, their determination paid off in the 22nd minute when, Brooke Lillywhite scored to tie the game.
A corner kick preceded the goal, after which both teams fought to get their feet on the loose ball. Lillywhite successfully maintained possession of the ball and fired a shot into the upper right side of the goal from eight yards out.
The next 66 minutes of the game were fraught with tension, as each team sought its next goal. In those 66 minutes, the Warriors attempted 16 shots, and The Master’s took three. Neither team could capitalize on their efforts until the 88th minute, when the Warriors produced a hard earned goal.
VThe game winning goal was a tag-team achievement between sophomore Hayley Parzonko, senior Kaitlin Durham, and Lillywhite. It began when Parzonko dribbled past several defenders down the right sideline, and towards the goal. She dropped the ball to Durham, who made a precise one-touch cross to Lillywhite. Lillywhite converted the cross into an impressive one-time shot, pummeling the ball into the upper right side of the goal.
Cappuccilli commented on Lillywhite’s strong presence on the field, noting that Lillywhite, “comes up in big moments of big games. She is consistent throughout each game, so getting her involved in the attack is extremely important; we want to get her on the ball as much as possible.
“Ultimately I felt like our offense created wonderful opportunities in the attack. It is great and admirable that even though we had a lot of balls get cleared off the goal-line and incredible shots get blocked, we still got the win and finished when it counted.”
This is the fourth Golden State Athletic Conference win for the Warriors and they remain in first place in the conference with 13 points.
Next Wednesday, the Warriors will host last year’s NAIA National Championship winners, #1 Lindsay Wilson (7-0-2), at 3:00 p.m. on Thorrington Field.
“Lindsay Wilson is a very talented team and it is going to take a collective performance from every single one of our players to do well in that game,” explained Cappuccilli. “I think we have the capability and the personnel to do that. All in all, I think we have the ability to come out of that game with a good result.”
