For the second year in a row, #16 Westmont women’s soccer (10-1-5) has claimed the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship and the conference’s automatic berth in the NAIA National Championship. In what must have felt like déjà vu for the Warrior faithful, penalty kicks were required to determine the conference champion. After Westmont (10-1-5) and Hope International (12-0-3) tied 2-2 in regulation and two overtime periods, the Warriors prevailed 5-4 in a shootout.
“This game was an emotional rollercoaster,” acknowledged Westmont head coach Jenny Jaggard. “I was very upset with how we played the first half. I felt like Hope wanted it more, but we turned it around in the second half and began to work our game plan and battled to get back into it.”
Hope International went ahead 1-0 in the 10th minute when Maggie Bender lived up to her name and scored her first goal of the season on a free kick from 40 yards out.
The Royals held onto the lead until the 30th minute when Grace Duckens scored an equalizer. Duckens received the ball on the right flank, 10 yard from the end line. She touched the ball back up field, then fired with her left foot.
The Royal’s Jazlyn Arevalo got a head on it, but was unable to terminate the ball’s momentum toward the goal. Her touch altered the flight of the ball just enough to put it out of goalkeeper Siera Pedroza’s reach.
In the 60th minute, lightning struck for the second time in the form of Bender and a free kick. From 35 yards out on the right flank, her free kick was delivered to the netting unabated.
In the 74th minute, Jaggard made a strategic decision to put Charlotte Chipembere in as goalkeeper.
“Kailey Meyer had an off game today in goal and I was so proud of how Charlotte stepped in and finished the game,” said Jaggard. “She is a great shot stopper and we had confidence that she would do well in the penalty shootout. I’m so happy for her getting to contribute in such a major way today.”
Once more, the Warriors needed an equalizer, which finally came in the 78th minute. Shayna Stock passed the ball along the ground to Reese Davidson on the left flank. Davidson touched the ball once down the line with her left foot, then used the same foot to send a cross into the six-yard box.
Katie Stella timed a run into the box perfectly and one-touched Davidson’ pass with her right foot while it was in the air, redirecting it into the net.
With neither team scoring in the final 12 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods, the game was officially ruled a tie. A shootout period was then needed to determine the 2021 GSAC Champion.
Hope’s Lauren Lizarraga took the first penalty kick and succeeded before Davidson matched the effort for Westmont, making the shootout score 1-1. After Bender made a PK for the Royals, Westmont’s Daisy Alvarez had her shot blocked by Pedroza.
Up 2-1, the Royals had a chance to take a two-goal lead, but Luli Bethencourt’s attempt clanked high off the right post, leaving Westmont within one. Stella then took Westmont’s third attempt and tied the shootout at two apiece.
Both Hope’s Monique Cervantes and Westmont’s Ande Siegel made their team’s respective fourth attempts to keep the shootout tied.
Then Hope sent Ofelia Sosa Cruz to attempt the Royals’ fifth penalty kick, which she converted. That put Karly Kingsley in a must-make situation. A make, and the shootout continued. A miss, and Hope wears the crown. Kingsley’s penalty kick on Thursday against The Master’s was saved by the keeper, but today, she found the net to tie the shootout score at four.
Pressley Honeycutt made the next attempt for the Royals. Honeycutt shot to her left, but Chipembere dove to her right and blocked the ball with both hands.
That brought Taylie Scott to the penalty kick spot with a chance to win the shootout for the Warriors. Scott lined up left of the ball and Pedroza guessed that Scott would shoot to her right. She did not.
When Scott’s shot hit the net, her teammates rushed toward her and toward Chipembere in celebration. They were quickly joined by dozens of Westmont students, including the entire baseball team, who had joined the crowd during the overtime period.
“This was a full team effort today,” said Jaggard. “We were really tired from Thursday, so we played a lot of people to try to keep the tempo of the game as high as possible and everyone did a great job contributing. We are a very fit team and that came into play today getting the equalizer to tie it up 2-2 and then to dominate the overtime periods.
“I thought Katie, Reese, Duckens, Sadie Hill, Taylie, Karly and Shayna really put in some good minutes for us today,” reflected the coach. “I’m really proud of the work ethic of my team.”
Next week, the Warriors begin play in the 40-team NAIA National Championship. Westmont will host one of ten Opening Round Tournaments consisting of four teams each. The NAIA will release the brackets on Monday morning, which is when the Warriors will learn who will be coming to Montecito to compete for a chance to reach the NAIA National Championship Final Site.
The Opening Round semifinal games will be played on Thursday, November 18 at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Westmont will play the second game. The final will take place on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased at http://athletics.westmont.edu/tickets. Westmont students may receive one free ticket by using the same passcode they use for regular season games.
Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.
email: dmason@newspress.com
