By Rob Goodrow
December 3, 2019
 
(ORANGE BEACH, Ala.) After a frustrating first half of almost-scores and bad bounces, the number seven seeded Westmont Warriors women's soccer team turned in a 2-1 second-round win against the tenth-seeded Sciences & Arts (Okla.) at the NAIA National Championship Tournament.
 
The Warriors found chances at the goal early in the game. One shot hit the crossbar, ricocheted straight down in front of the line and collected by the goalkeeper. In another sequence, directly in front of the Drovers' goal, a Warrior point-blank opportunity struck the right post and bounced away.
 
The teams left the field at halftime tied 0-0.
 
"We generated a lot of opportunities in that first half and it would have been nice to put one or two away. It would have made it a lot less stressful for me," laughed first-year Westmont head coach Jenny Jaggard. "The momentum was clearly in our favor for most of that half. It's hard to finish, that's soccer. To our credit we grinded and didn't give up, and I'm proud of them for playing through the frustration of that first half."
 
Their patience rewarded, Westmont broke the deadlocked score in the 49th minute, as junior Bri Johnson, hit a beautiful twenty-yard shot from the right side into the left corner of the goal to make it 1-0.
 
"Bri thrives under pressure. She embraces every moment of any opportunity to take anyone one-on-one, one-on-two, she'll just go at it," said Jaggard of her leading goal scorer. "She's agile and powerful and on that play, did a great job of doing what she does best - blasting it past."
 
The Drovers (21-2) answered in the 65th minute with an equalizing goal from sophomore forward Mackenzie Holub.
 
Before Science & Arts could even celebrate, the Warriors took back control of the game with a score from an unlikely source, sophomore midfielder Teagan Matye. It was just Matye's second goal of the season and it was the game winner.
 
"Finally! Teagan is a goal-scorer in practice so I'm thrilled for her that she answered today," said Jaggard. "She finally decided to take one for herself instead of passing it like she usually does."
 
Westmont held the Drovers for the remaining fifteen minutes despite some heavy pressure on their defense. Warrior goalkeeper Gabi Haw recorded eight saves for the game against a team that scored twice as many goals (123) as the Warriors (60) this season.
 
"Our defense is young but they played with a lot of poise," said Jaggard. "This was a different type of team for us, where we had to track two particular players and that changed things for our shape. They had some speed and power and they scored a lot. We weren't as spot-on as we've been but it was enough.
 
"Willow Martin was solid today, consistently good, as was Savannah Scott. Taylie Scott was a rock, too."
 
 The Warriors have less than 24-hours before kick-off of the NAIA National Championship Tournament's third round, Wednesday. They face another 1-loss team in Keiser (Fla.) (20-1).
 
"Keiser is really good in front of the goal," explained Jaggard. "They beat The Master's 8-1 in the first round. They really blast shots. We'll need to be organized and composed."
 
Westmont takes on Keiser Wednesday, December 4 at 4:00 p.m. central time at the Sportsplex of Orange Beach (Ala.).