By Ron Smith
September 7, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A lone goal in the 16th minute spoiled the home opener for Westmont Women's Soccer (0-2) as the Warriors fell by a score of 1-0 to the Cougars of Cal State San Marcos (1-1).
 
The Cougars' Natalia Huntington sent a corner kick to ten yards out in front of the goal. That's where it found Natalie Paulson who headed it down toward the far post. Makenna Meyers prevented the score, but the ball went to Danielle Paulson who used her right foot to put it in the back of the net from five yards out.
 
The Warriors had a chance to change the narrative in the final seconds of the game. With just six seconds remaining, the clock was stopped due to a foul just above the box. Amarys Machado had been taken to the ground by Natalie Paulson and the center referee awarded Westmont a free kick from a spot 25 yards out, in the center of the field.
 
With five Cougars 10 yards away, Villa took the shot. The ball cleared the wall of defenders, then hit the top of the crossbar before bounding out of play.

Despite the loss to San Marcos - a team Westmont's head coach Jenny Jaggard described as, "One of the best programs on the West Coast," – the coach found a lot to be pleased with.
 
"There are more things to be positive about than there are to be negative about," asserted Jaggard. "I think our ability to build in the middle third is right now better than it has ever been since I have coached here. There definitely is some improvement with our connectivity between the lines and the way that we move the ball. It is pretty impressive for this early in the season."
 
Jaggard pointed out a number of her players that she assessed as having had good performances in today's game.
 
"I thought Alyssa Zahiralis played very well in her role at center back," noted Jaggard. "She did a good job with both the defending aspects and with some of the build-up stuff we have been working on."
 
"I think Emily Jordan may have had the breakout game of her career. She played fantastic at the six. She was everywhere and won every 50-50 ball. It was a really good day for her.
 
"Amelia Villa also had a really good game. She did a lot of work to keep everything connected. We played her in a couple of different spots and she looked good in both. She is warming into becoming a lot more effective for this team.
 
"Shayna Stock had a good game today too. She was involved in a lot of plays and helped us stay organized and deal with their counterattack.
 
"Madison Ford played 60 minutes at center back today and had some good minutes. Maya Pablos had a really good performance in the second half. She was sitting in good spots to help prevent the counterattack."
 
Pablos had a spectacular save in the 68th minute. Huntington got in behind the Warrior defense and was one-on-one with Pablos. From 21 yards out, Huntington got off a shot that Pablos rejected by leaping to her left and deflecting the ball away.
 
Under the category of room for improvement, Jaggard said, "The elephant in the room is what happens in the final third. Our possession advantage is not equating to goals or even getting quality shots."
 
Westmont held possession 58 percent of the time, and 59 percent of the Warriors' possessions were in the attacking end of the field. While the Warriors outshot the Cougars 15-7, Westmont's shots-on-goal tally was four to San Marco's five.
 
Today's game was the first of a three-game homestand. On Thursday, September 12, Westmont will host the Otters of Cal State Monterey Bay. Two days later, the Broncos of Cal Poly Pomona will make their way to the Santa Barbara coast. Both games are scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. kick-off.