By Ron Smith
September 20, 2024
 
(TURLOCK, Calif.) Westmont Women's Soccer (0-3-2) began its two-game road trip with a scoreless tie against Stanislaus State (3-1-1), which is also nicknamed the Warriors.
 
"I think it was the most complete performance that we have had," assessed Jenny Jaggard, Westmont's head coach. "It was actually a very good game. We generated a few high quality opportunities and I thought we were going to score."
 
Westmont tallied eight shots on the night, three in the first half and five in the second. All three of Westmont's shots on goal came in the second half.
 
In the 48th minute, Amarys Machado shot from just to the left of the 18-yard box, but it was batted away by Stanislaus goalkeeper Natalia Ochoa.
 
In the 62nd minute, Machado crossed the ball to Amelia Villa who was charging to the top of the six-yard box. Villa ran on the ball at seven yards out and headed it just outside the left post.
 
In the 83rd Sierra Martin had a shot from 12-yard in front of goal, but chipped it over the top.
 
"Ciara Caringal played the entire second half," noted Jaggard of the freshman forward who played 82 minutes. "In the first half she made a couple of crazy runs and got on the ball. I heard the other coach say to his players, 'You have to mark her out of the game.' They were double teaming her which created so much space for us because she was so dangerous."
 
Defensively, Westmont got back on track.
 
"We didn't give away a goal against a team that is crazy dangerous in their counter attack," expressed Jaggard. "I thought our whole back line stood out. They did much better than we have been doing. I feel like it is a good result on the road."
 
Ellie Ludwig played her first complete game in goal and collected her first collegiate shutout while notching five saves.
 
"Ellie earned the shutout," stressed Jaggard. "There was some pressure on her. When they got the ball it was explosive counter attacks that required her to come out and clear the ball. There were crazy ones that I could not believe she got to and cleared them out.
 
"She also made a couple of good diving saves. There were a couple of corner kicks where we cleared the initial serve and then there was the biggest scrum on top of the box. It looked like a rugby match. Then they toe-poked it like a cannonball to the low corner. She made a dive and was able to push it out. That was a big time save.
 
"She was confident with her feet and she helped us to build the play and stay connected. She has the composure to handle a forward running at her and just play a simple ball around them so that we can build cleanly instead of having to do a 50-50 ball in the midfield all the time."
 
The Warriors continue their Northern California road trip tomorrow when they drive to Rohnert Park for a game against Sonoma State (1-2-2) on September 22. Kick-off is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.