By Tim Heiduk
September 2, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Despite outshooting #21 Kansas Wesleyan 35-7 and controlling the large majority of possession, the #25 Westmont women's soccer team was pushed to the end by the visitors before ultimately prevailing 4-2.
 
"Soccer is a funny sport," said Westmont head coach Jenny Jaggard. "We had so many opportunities in the first 10, 20 minutes of the game. We keep talking about when you start with a rhythm like that, in the game of soccer it kind of ebbs and flows. We had our moments and we just couldn't find a way to get a couple more goals when we really should've and that gave the other team hope."
 
Two first-half goals within the first 20 minutes from Maddi Berthoud and Valerie Swisher had the Warriors in cruise control. Kansas Wesleyan goalkeeper Daisy Bingham made six crucial saves in the first half to prevent Westmont, who hit the post on multiple occasions, from adding a third before the break. The Warriors were made to pay just before the stroke of halftime when a Michelle Pena penalty kick brought the Coyotes within one.
 
"They're coming into halftime and they're thinking, 'Oh we're close, we're going to fight and press and see what we can get,'" said Jaggard, whose team only led 2-1 at the half despite outshooting the opposition 18-2 in the first 45 minutes. "Unfortunately, some fouls in the box created penalty kick opportunities for them and to their credit they finished those. It put us in a game where we're stressed out and having to learn how to manage the clock a little bit."
 
Bri Johnson scored the elusive third goal off an Isabelle Berthoud cross in the 75th minute that seemingly sent the Warriors on their way after another dominating half. Yet a Westmont handball inside the box gave Kansas Wesleyan another penalty kick, this time converted by Madison Malone, to bring the visitors back within one with just over eight minutes left to play.
 
The Coyotes (0-2) pushed numbers forward in search of an equalizer, but Maddi Berthoud scored from the penalty spot in the final minute of regulation to put the game out of reach. Swisher drew a foul in the box, which allowed the elder Berthoud to score her second of the game.
 
"Maddi just grinds out there," said Jaggard. "She's a player that picks the right moments to go at people and creates mayhem for the backline of the other team. Then there's moments where she does a great job of spraying balls into the corners for other people. She's got a good game sense and she did a good job of managing that."
 
The win was the fourth in a row for the Warriors (4-1), who have now scored 14 goals in their last four games.
 
"Managing the clock is a skill that we need as we get into more competitive games," said Jaggard. "You have to learn how to manage a win and eke it out, so we somehow did that. It was a little bit scary today."

Westmont will look to extend its winning streak to five games when the team hits the road to take on Antelope Valley (2-0) on Friday.
 
"For it being the beginning of the year and considering we're really young, I would say I feel great," said Jaggard. "We had 35 shots this game. Even though I'm frustrated that we're not putting away more goals, I told the team at the end of the game that we have to look at the positive side of that. We created 35 opportunities, from all over the place. You're seeing lots of different people scoring. I feel good about it; we're a team."