By Ron Smith
August 11, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) It was a tough opening half for the Warriors at Harder Stadium on Saturday night as Westmont Women's Soccer took on the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara in this year's edition of the annual crosstown exhibition game.  The Warriors gave up four goals in the opening frame and fell by a final score of 5-1.
 
Westmont's goal came in the 38th minute after Maddi Berthoud drew a foul that resulted in a yellow card being issued to UC Santa Barbara's Amaya Zabalza. Payton Wolf took the resulting free kick from 25 yards out on the right side directing, the ball to the front of the Gaucho net.
 
Bri Johnson redirected the service from Wolf to the left side of the net. Berthoud took the shot from six yards out, beating the UCSB keeper. Wolf and Johnson were each rewarded an assist.
 
"Maddi brought a great energy and effort in her work rate," said Westmont head coach Chantel Cappuccilli regarding Berthoud's play. "That set the tone for the rest of the group."
 
Berthoud's goal made the score 2-1. However, two Gaucho goals in the final five minutes of the first half resulted in a 4-1 halftime score.
 
Westmont found more success defensively after regrouping at halftime.
 
"Our response in the second half was definitely better and our mentality to compete was an improvement from the first half," asserted Cappuccilli. "There was definitely some positives over the first 45."
 
"I also think we saw some hopeful moments from our young group," continued the coach. "It is good to expose them to these kind of settings. Our game against UCSB is going to be one of the fastest games of the season. How they carry themselves in these moments is important. It is good to give them a glimpse of what speed we need to match and also get them in this kind of environment to compete in a high level.
 
Unfortunately, several Warriors sustained injuries during the game. Alexx Hamilton was assisted off the field in the 14th minute and did not return. The same was true of Haley Parker in the 73rd minute. Of greater concern was an injury to Brooke Porter in the 63rd minute. Porter was taken from the field by paramedics. The extent of her injuries are unknown.
 
"I think it was an unfortunate play," said Cappuccilli of Porter's injury. "Unfortunately, these things are a part of the game and you can't avoid some of those hard knocks."
 
Porter's injury was particularly difficult for the coaching staff and teammates because she had just returned from injury after missing most of her freshman and all of her sophomore season.
 
Westmont opens regular season play next week with road trip to Arizona. On Thursday, Westmont will take on Benedictine in Mesa. Then next Saturday, the Warriors will play at Embry-Riddle in Prescott.