Westmont College Athletics

By Ron Smith
October 10, 2024
 
(COSTA MESA, Calif.) Freshman Ellie Gilbert scored her first collegiate goal and that is all the scoring Westmont Women's Soccer (3-6-3, 3-1 PacWest) would need in a 1-0 victory over Vanguard (2-6, 1-3). The win came in head coach Jenny Jaggard's 100th game, giving her a coaching record of 62-22-16 (.700).
 
Jaggard had mixed feelings about her team's performance in the opening frame.
 
"I was frustrated in the first half that we didn't get quality opportunities and test the keeper," explained Jaggard. "However, the trade-off is that we were doing some things in the buildup that we have been trying to do all season. We were successfully doing those things against a team that is organized defensively. I was really happy with some of the buildup and some of the decisions going forward and some of the movement that got us into the final third. Unfortunately, we failed at first to get anything of quality off of it."
 
It was a different story after the intermission.
 
"In the second half, there was a 15-20 minute period around the goal that I thought was very good," assessed Jaggard. "Some of the buildups and other opportunities I couldn't believe. I thought for sure we were going to have two goals. I feel like we have definitely improved our ability to connect with each other through the midfield and patiently wait to find each other. It was really pretty soccer. I thought the maturity of the passing decisions was much better today."
 
Gilbert's goal came in the 65th minute of play, breaking the stalemate.
 
"There was a beautiful passing sequence of five or six gorgeous little up-back-through passes," reported Jaggard. "Then, Amelia Villa received a pass as Ellie was making this beautiful run. Amelia slotted Ellie right through the middle of the field with a perfectly weighted pass. Ellie beat the keeper in the one-verses-one and put it in the back of the net.
 
"Ellie is so talented and such a good player defensively and offensively. She and Amelia are very similar. Both of them cover so much ground it is incredible.
 
"I thought Amarys Machado was also going to score today. She set up some quality plays that were almost goals as well. Offensively, we are generating better quality attacks."
 
The Warrior defense stood up against 12 shots today, including six that were on goal.
 
"Ellie Ludwig made a couple of good saves for us today," said Jaggard. "Alyssa Zahiralis was not available to us (at center back), so we had Shayna Stock, Makenna Meyers and Madison Ford as the three center backs. They did a good job of holding down the fort without her."
 
The Warriors will continue PacWest play on Saturday when they host the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific (2-4-2, 1-2) at Thorrington Field. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. following the men's game that begins at 12:30.