It was an epic battle women's soccer between the two top-ranked teams in the NAIA at Thorrington Field on Friday afternoon in front of more than 500 excited fans. In the end, top-ranked Concordia of Oregon (6-0-1) defended its number one ranking with a 2-1 win over second-ranked Westmont (5-1) in the NAIA Game of the Week.
"These are the ones that don't make you feel very good," said Westmont head coach Kristy Kiely, "the ones where you feel like you executed the game plan well, but you still don't walk away with a win."
The Warriors outshot the Cavaliers 16-12 (7-5 on goal) and held a 13-2 corner kick advantage. However, Westmont was unable to capitalize on the abundance of its chances.
"It's the best start the team had all season," noted Kiely. "They kept the ball for a long time. But, you have to score goals in this game. We had 13 corners and nothing to show for it. We missed a couple of sitters. Those things came back to haunt us later in the game, along with a couple of mistakes in the back."
The scoring started in the 21st minute when Shannon McMahon drove a free kick into the goal from 40 yards out. The ball passed just underneath the crossbar to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.
The Warriors' goal came in the 60th minute as the result of a tremendous display of teamwork. Concordia goalkeeper Nicole Franklin delivered a ball to the left side of the field which Malory Mitchell corralled. Mitchell advanced the ball to Kelsey Steck in the middle of the field about 25 yards out. Steck laid the ball off with a backwards flick to a charging Brooke Lillywhite. In turn, Lillywhite kicked the ball past three Cavalier defenders to Kaci Mexico who was breaking for the goal. One-on-one with the keeper, Mexico fired from 10 yards out and put the ball in the far-side netting.
"It's great to have Brooke Lillywhite back," said Kiely in reference to the goal. "The coaches turned to each other and said (about her pass), 'I didn't see that'. She has incredible vision. She saw a pass that few people would see.
"I'm so happy for Kaci," continued the coach. "She has been working so hard and has done so many important things. She finished calm and composed in the box."
The game winner for Concordia came in the 73rd minute. The Warriors misplayed a ball from the back which ended up at the feet of Concordia's Alicia Kolter. Kolter drove toward the goal and sent a shot from 23 yards out into the net.
"There are a lot of positives that we can take away from this game and I hope the players will rest on those," said Kiely. "Getting the opportunities we did today and playing the way we did today, I know that we will be successful. However, at the same time I feel sick about it because I think we let it get away from us."
Before the game, a tribute to Jane Higa was read and a moment of silence was held. Higa, who passed away last Friday, was a vice president and the dean of students at Westmont for 24 years and enjoyed a special relationship with the women's soccer team. The team wore yellow armbands as an indication of their affection for her.
"I want to deeply thank our fans for their support," said Kiely. "Our players were in tears after the game; in part because we wanted to do Jane proud. In part because they knew the fans came out to see them win. They were pretty disappointed about that."
With the non-conference season now behind them, the Warriors will turn their attention to Golden State Athletic Conference play. First up will be conference newcomer William Jessup on Saturday, September 20 at Thorrington Field. Kick-off is scheduled for noon.
