Sophomore forward Jenny Martinez picked up where she left off last season by scoring in the seventeenth minute in Saturday's season opener against Cal State Los Angeles. However, the Golden Eagles scored twice in the second half to defeat the Warriors 2-1.
Just before the 15 minute mark, senior midfielder Mel Greene suffered a mild ankle sprain and was taken out of the game.
"Losing Mel in was a big loss for us," said Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. "She is our composure in the middle. We also missed not having Aolani out there to be able to run with them. They had a lot of quick runners and Aolani can keep up with that pace. Aolani is out with a concussion which she suffered last week in training. We missed those two tonight. Our training staff sounds hopeful to have both of them back for next weekend."
Just over a minute after Greene left the game, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead. Senior Samantha Kleen, playing on the right, fed the ball to Martinez who was running down the field. Martinez fired from the top of the box to score the first goal of the season for the Warriors. Last year, Martinez led the team with six goals.
"I thought the way we were going to score against them was to switch the ball quickly and get it up the field," said Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. "The moments where we were able to link passes together we looked very strong. Sam had a very nice lay-off and Jenny had a great finish."
Cal State Los Angeles scored the equalizer in the fifty-fifth minute of play. Andrea Lammers scored an unassisted goal from 10 years out on the right side. The winning goal for the Golden Eagles came in the seventy-eighth minute when Lammers passed the ball to Norie Pablo who scored from 15 yards out.
The Golden Eagles had the run of play for most of the game. Cal State Los Angeles fired off 16 shots, nine of which were on goal. The Warriors managed just four shots, three of which were on target. Sophomore goalkeeper Lindsey Smith was credited with seven assists.
The corner kick advantage also went to the Cal State LA with the Golden Eagles raking six attempts to the Warriors one.
Westmont will host William Jessup in its home opener at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 3.
