By Ron Smith
September 28, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) It required 88 minutes and 58 seconds of play before Westmont Women's Soccer (1-4-2, 1-0 PacWest) scored the only goal of the game to beat Biola (0-4-4, 0-1) in the first conference game of the year.
 
After a scoreless first half, Westmont head coach Jenny Jaggard had a message for her team. "I told the team, 'You are knocking on the door. I want you to stop being polite. There is no more knocking. Next time, I want you to kick the door in a just go.'"
 
With time running out, it looked like the door would remain closed and Westmont and Biola would settle for a tie. However, Amelia Villa had a different idea. The junior received the ball half way between the center stripe and the Warrior goal.
 
"Two defenders sandwiched her and she somehow squirted in between them and kept going," recalled Westmont's head coach Jenny Jaggard.
 
Villa dribbled down the field before playing the ball off to Ellie Gilbert who was 25 yards away from goal. Gilbert passed the ball to the left to Amarys Machdo who was sprinting down the left side.
 
Machado took one touch with her right foot to redirect the ball ahead of her. Then, just above the 18-yard box, Machado fired with her left foot, placing the ball inside the near post and out of the reach of the Eagles' keeper.
 
Instant celebration erupted both on the field and on the Warriors' bench. Jaggard described the reaction saying, "It felt like a month's worth pent up frustrations, disappointment and depression released into jubilant joy."
 
Jaggard had a good bit to say about her players. "Amarys drew so many fouls tonight. They were all over her. She persisted and kept going. I am super pumped for her that in her senior year she put such an awesome, memorable goal away for us."
 
Jaggard described Gilbert as having, "An absolutely fantastic game. Tonight, we saw her play the kind of soccer we recruited her for. This last month, I have been waiting for her to get out of the freshman timidity and step into the kind of player that she really is. I don't know what changed tonight, but she obviously stepped up. Her defending was amazing. She was all over the place pressing.
 
"We were shutting down Biola's game. They like to play a pretty game out of the back. We pressed them pretty hard today and didn't allow them to have much success out of that. That was a huge piece of staying in that game and giving ourselves the opportunity to get one on them late.
 
"Our backline – Alyssa Zahiralis and Madison Ford – had a really good night. Makenna Meyers has been fighting some injury but held it together well for us."
 
Ellie Ludwig, who tallied six saves, earned the shutout and her first collegiate win.
 
The women's soccer victory completed a sweep by three Warriors teams that all competed at Biola on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Westmont Volleyball defeated Biola in five sets. Then, Westmont Men's Soccer took down the Eagles 4-2.
 
The women's soccer team will be back in action on Thursday, October 3 when they host the Cougars of Azusa Pacific (5-0-1, 1-0) as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. The men's game is scheduled for a 12:30 kick-off with the women getting started at 3:15 p.m.