By Jacob Norling
March 18, 2021
 
(Costa Mesa, Calif.) #6 Westmont (3-3, 3-0 GSAC) remained undefeated in Golden State Athletic Conference play on Thursday, defeating the #19 Vanguard Lions (3-3, 1-3) 2-1 in Costa Mesa.
 
Westmont outshot the Lions 18-5 but ultimately had to rely on their defense to seal the victory late, due to their inability to take advantage of a surplus of scoring opportunities.
 
Thirty seconds into the match, Katie Stella received a through ball inside the 18-yard box and was immediately tripped up, resulting in a rare first-minute penalty kick. Westmont head coach Jenny Jaggard elected to have junior Teagan Matye take it, and Matye drilled the back of the net past a diving Haley Magana for her first goal of the season.
 
Ten minutes later, Westmont had their next opportunity when Sadie Hill lofted a ball from the near side corner all the way to an oncoming Karley Kingsley at the far end of the six-yard box. But upon Kingsley's first touch, Magana bolted off her line to cause Kingsley to shoot wide of the left post.
 
Westmont continued to possess the ball in Vanguard territory for much of the first half, but the Lions backline continuously kept the Warriors off-balance in the eighteen, often challenging strikers Bri Johnson and Reese Davidson a step before either could get a legitimate shot off.
 
In the final thirty seconds of the half, Hill recorded the final shot of the first forty-five for Westmont, which landed softly into the hands of Magana. Although Westmont pressured the Lions heavily in the first half, with 11 shots and four of them on goal, they failed to add to their lead.
 
Luckily for the Warriors, like much of the season, the Westmont backline held strong and did not allow the Lions to take a single shot on goal against Gabbie Haw in the first half.
 
Magana made a brilliant save to keep the Lions within one in the 50th minute when off a Kingsley cross, Stella headed a ball with force directly towards the net. Magana side-stepped with the direction of the cross, pivoting to her far post just as Stella's shot left her head. Magana got her hands on the ball cleanly, and caught it with her hands away from her body, avoiding a dangerous ricochet with the Westmont offense crashing the net.
 
In the 52nd minute, Westmont finally got that second goal past Magana. Matye received a perfect through-ball past the Vanguard defense on the far side of the field, and entered the box with her right foot set up perfectly. Magana charged off her line, but Matye hammered a ball into the upper-left corner of the net past the hands of the Vanguard keeper, doubling her goal total for the day as well as the Westmont lead.
 
Coach Jaggard spoke highly of the details leading to Westmont's scoring, saying, "First of all, Teagan did a great job being composed early and getting us on the board with that penalty kick. That second goal came off a combination of passes starting with Grace Duckens, who slipped a well-timed pass to Grace Hotaling, who was making a run forward from the midfield. Hotaling recognized Teagan making that run forward and played that ball perfectly timed for her to run into the box and place that goal."
 
The Lions cut the lead in half in the 59th minute, when off of a corner kick Kelsey Bryant took advantage of some miscommunication among the Warriors defense, and found herself uncovered with a wide open shot. Bryant utilized Vanguards first shot on goal to bury one past Haw, and pull the Lions within one.
 
Westmont's defense lost track of Bryant again in the 69th minute, allowing her another go at Haw. But fortunately for the Warriors, Bryant shot high of the cross bar and allowed the Westmont defense to regroup ahead of the final 20 minutes of play.
 
Westmont's defense stood tall, regaining their typical form, and didn't allow a single shot on goal in the final twenty minutes as they claimed their third consecutive GSAC victory.
 
"It was a very physical match with a lot of fouls," said Jaggard. "Vanguard is very good at scoring off corner kicks and crosses and were able to eventually get one playing into their strengths. Overall, our defense was very solid though. We cleared balls out of the box more efficiently than we have all year and we were able to put pressure on them, minimizing their ability to play long balls behind our back line.
 
"Our entire team has improved in our ability to stay compact against a challenging opponent."
 
Westmont returns to GSAC play next Thursday when they travel to Fullerton to take on Hope International. Due to local and state mandates spectators will not be allowed to attend in person. However, fans can watch live broadcasts on the Hope International website.