By: Hope Hensley
October 3, 2026
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In a high-energy, physical PacWest battle on Senior Day, the Westmont women's soccer team fought back twice to tie the match before ultimately falling 3–2 to Jessup University on Saturday afternoon at Westmont College.
Prior to kickoff, Westmont honored its four graduating seniors—Ellie Ludwig, Sydney Reese, Mia Stuart, and Gizela Zermeno—celebrating their impact on and off the pitch.
"This senior group is special in that they have been a pivotal piece in upholding and building our culture on and off the field," said Westmont Head Coach Lauren Matthias. "On and off the field, they embody our core values: family, accountability, excellence, gratitude, and hard work. Those four without a doubt have brought those aspects into their game and with their relationships with their teammates. I love and care deeply for each of them."
Following a scoreless first half in which Westmont generated seven corner kicks and held a 4–2 advantage in shots, both offenses broke through after the break.
Westmont (1-5-3, 0-3-0 PacWest) struck first in the 59th minute when junior midfielder Ellie Gilbert buried a pass from Skyler McNamara into the net.
Jessup (1-5-2, 1-0-0 PacWest) answered eight minutes later, equalizing in the 67th minute via a penalty kick from Karlee Lywandowsky. Lywandowsky struck again just 88 seconds later to put Jessup ahead 2–1.
The Warriors displayed great resilience, pushing forward to net the equalizer in the 76th minute. Once again, McNamara set up Gilbert in the box, where Gilbert slotted home her second goal of the match to level the score at 2–2.
"Sky and Ellie brought some very good connections in our attack today," Matthias said. "Sky was doing a good job holding the ball and also getting the ball into the final third on her drive, but also with finding the half-space where Ellie was making runs into. We worked a lot this past week on those combos, identifying triggers, and creating more in the offensive third. We definitely did that today—we just needed to be sharper in putting the game away earlier by capitalizing on first-half opportunities, taking care of the ball in the second half, and being sharper defensively in the moments we needed to."
Jessup regained the lead in the 82nd minute as Lywandowsky completed her hat trick, sealing the 3–2 result.
The second half featured tight physical play, with the two sides combining for 35 fouls (21 on Jessup, 14 on Westmont) and three yellow cards issued to Jessup. Overall, Westmont outshot Jessup 15 to 8 and held a 9–0 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
"We talk a lot about controlling the controllables," Matthias added. "Today there were a few things out of our control, but there were also a number of things on both ends of the ball that were completely in our control—finishing, decisions, and technical execution. That will be our main focus and drive into a big travel week ahead with three big opportunities to get into the mix of our conference. Our group must continue to take ownership, learn, grow, and get one day better."
Westmont embarks on a three-match PacWest road trip to Hawaii next week, opening the swing against Chaminade.
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