By Ron Smith
October 21, 2023
 
(HONOLULU) Westmont Women's Soccer (4-2-5, 2-1-2 PacWest) and Chaminade (6-3-4, 4-1-2) battled to a scoreless tie on Saturday in what was the second of three games in Hawaii for the Warriors.
 
"It was two different halves in terms of tactics," said Westmont's head coach Jenny Jaggard. "In the first half, they were sitting deep on us. On this small field, all 11 of them were tucked back. (The Silverswords' home field is just 62 yards wide). It was complicated to pull them out and get any kind of space where you can get the ball in behind and get quality moments.
 
"The first 10 minutes, we really struggled with patience. It improved, but it was really hard to break down their defense. When we didn't score, then they tried to extend forward a little more and the tactics of the game changed and it opened up a little bit."
 
The Warriors had just two shots on goal. The first was a header by Amelia Villa that bounced into the hands of Chaminade goalkeeper Naomi Takata. The second came in the 30th minute when Olivia Gabelein got past two defenders and dribbled down the right side of the field before firing off a shot on goal.
 
"The reality is that (Chaminade) is sitting pretty high in the conference standings," said Jaggard. "We just got a result on the road against a team that is extremely hard to play against and that was sitting above us."
 
Maya Pablos, who recorded her fifth shutout this season, had three saves for the Warriors.
 
Westmont is currently tied with Azusa Pacific for fifth place in the PacWest Conference standings. Both teams have an identical 2-1-2 conference record and eight points. Just ahead of the Warriors and Cougars in fourth place is Point Loma who has a 4-2 conference mark and 12 points. Chaminade is currently in third place with 14 points. Twelfth-ranked Concordia, with a PacWest record of 5-0-1, holds second place with 16 points and #5 Hawai'i Hilo, who has a 6-1 mark, is in first place with 18.
 
Westmont will finish up its road trip when it takes on Hawai'i Pacific (1-7-4, 1-3-3) on Tuesday at Waipio Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local time.