Amanda Barret, who is a key component in the Westmont College women’s soccer team’s defensive strategy, contributed offensively on Saturday as the No. 19 Warriors (7-6-2, 6-2-1 GSAC) defeated the Hawks of San Diego Christian (3-11, 0-8 GSAC) by a score of 4-0 in a Golden State Athletic Conference match-up. Barret scored two goals, one at the start of each half, to help the Warriors secure the victory on Senior Day.
“In pre-game, we talked about how the seniors will have a legacy of things which they brought to the team,” Barret said. “We just wanted to go out there, play with our seniors, have fun and play well.”
“For all the work our back four has done, I look at Amanda’s goals as a reward for all the players at the back,” Westmont head coach Dave Wolf said. “One of their ranks got forward and scored a couple of goals.”
The win guarantees Westmont a first-round home game in the upcoming GSAC Women’s Soccer Tournament. First-round games will be played Nov. 4. Before that date, the Warriors will conclude the regular season with a road game at No. 6 California Baptist (13-3, 6-1). Depending on the results of other games this week, the Warriors could be playing for second place and the second seed when they travel to Riverside next Saturday for the 1 p.m. game.
Barret’s first goal, which proved to be the game-winner, came in the fifth minute of play. On a corner kick opportunity, Jenna Nelson sent a pass across the goal to the far post, just in front of the net. Barret jumped up and positioned herself so that the ball went off her chest and into the net.
“That was my third opportunity in about two minutes,” Barret said. “I got my body on the first two and the third one I thought, ‘I’m not wasting this.’”
“I liked Jenna’s game today,” Wolf said. “Out wide is a good spot for her because as a good ball striker, she has a chance to knock in some cross balls.”
The Warriors were unable to score again in the first half, much to the dismay of Wolf.
“I didn’t like the first half much, and I think some of that was the pomp and circumstance of senior day,” the coach said. “We were direct with them at halftime and said, ‘We’ve got to set our sights on what it means to play in the postseason and we need to begin preparing for that now.’ I thought they came out in the second half and had a sharpness to them that wasn’t there in the first half.”
Wolf didn’t have to wait long to see that sharpness put points on the board. In the 51st minute, Nelson crossed a ball that senior Amy Lawson headed into the net. With the goal, Lawson extended her scoring streak to four games.
“Amy has been in real good form, but we weren’t sure she was going to play today,” Wolf said. “Amy suffered a concussion after the Biola game and was just cleared this morning after missing training the last few days.”
The loss of training time didn’t seem to slow Lawson down. All six of Lawson’s shots were on goal, which Wolf finds to be very encouraging.
“A lot of goal-scoring has to do with two things: a clean ball strike and one that is on frame,” Wolf said. “What we can learn from Amy and her recent run is that she puts balls on goal. If you do it with enough consistency, it develops your confidence. As your confidence goes up, you start picking corners.”
A little more than a minute after Lawson’s goal, Barret scored again.
“Amy had a real nice shot off a free kick which hit the post,” Barret said. “I wasn’t going to let it not go in for her. That goal was for Amy.”
Westmont added another goal in the 74th minute after Wolf had pulled many of his starters from the field. Sophomore Kaelyn McBride crossed the ball to freshman Bailey Esquivel, who recorded her first collegiate goal by connecting from 15 yards out. It was also the first assist for McBride.
“That was the highlight of the day for me,” Wolf said. “Those who work so hard in training every day but don’t get a lot of opportunity to play in games were given an opportunity and they took advantage of it. I thought Kaelyn, Bailey and Brooke (Johnson) played well. And I thought Sally (Pearce) played quite well. Those are moments that are fun and can impact the morale of our team.”
With 19 points (three for a win, one for a loss), Westmont sits in third place in the GSAC standings. Third-ranked Azusa Pacific (12-1, 7-0 GSAC) retained their top spot with a 3-0 win over Point Loma Nazarene (9-5-2, 2-4-2 GSAC). Azusa Pacific has 24 points, while second-place California Baptist has 21.
Ron Smith is Westmont College‘s sports information director.