By Ron Smith
October 24, 2024
 
(IRVINE, Calif.) Westmont Women's Soccer (5-7-2, 5-2 PacWest) lost a heartbreaker at #11 Concordia (9-0-2, 5-0-1) on Thursday evening. After leading 1-0 for most of the game, the Warriors surrendered two goals in the final 12 minutes.
 
"It was a tough loss today," said Westmont's head coach Jenny Jaggard. "We had a stressful day today, getting stuck in traffic for five hours. I was really proud of how the team showed up in the first half and played beautiful soccer."
 
Westmont jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal by Amelia Villa in the 16th minute. Shayna Stock sent a ball forward from the midfield stripe, finding Villa about 28 yards from the end line. Villa settled the ball, then dribbled toward goal. From 12-yards out on the left side, Villa fired the ball past the keeper and inside the far post.
 
It was only the third goal allowed by Concordia this season.
 
"The goal we scored was off of a great build up where we positionally had them beat. We got a quality finish from Amelia," said Jaggard.
 
The Warriors held Concordia scoreless for the next 63 minutes. Then in the 79th minute, the Golden Eagle's Ashley Gurbert found the equalizer. Less than two minutes later, Antonella Russo recorded the game winner.
 
"We still have maturing to do as a team to handle the moments of pressure and not allow mistakes to compound," noted Jaggard. "Concordia is a really good team, but with a little more composure we could have gotten the win tonight. We still have work to do to get into the tournament, but we are beginning to show that we can be a contender in bigger games."
 
With four games remaining in the regular season, Westmont sits in fourth place in the PacWest standings with 15 points (three points for a win, one for a tie). At season's end the top four teams qualify for the PacWest Tournament.
 
Hawai'i Hilo (10-0-3, 7-0-1) is in first place in the conference with 22 points. Point Loma (9-2-1, 6-1) is in second with 18 points and Concordia is in third with 16. Westmont leads Chaminade (5-3-4, 4-1-2), which is one point behind the Warriors with 14 points.
 
Saturday, the Warriors will take on Hawai'i Hilo as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. After the men kick-off at noon, the women's game will start at 3:15 p.m.