Men’s Soccer: The Master’s 5, Westmont 2
In a year when Westmont athletic teams are renewing old rivalries with opponents in the PacWest, the men’s soccer team took a moment to keep a more recent rivalry going.
The Warriors welcomed the Mustangs of The Master’s to Thorrington Field on Saturday for a non-conference match-up.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, the visitors left with a 5-2 victory.
“I thought that for large moments, we did great,” Westmont head coach Morgan Cathey said. “I thought especially in the first half – after the first five minutes – that we were in control.
“We hadn’t given up a set-piece goal this whole season and I thought those moments showed a lack of concentration and a lack of desire. We gave up four set-piece goals on the day. In my opinion, those are controllable.
“I don’t think we have been at the level we needed to be in defending set pieces, so I think it is good for us to get exposed in the way we did today so that we can take the lessons that we need to.”
The Warriors scored early, taking a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. Leonel Olivo Ortiz served a ball into the box from the left touchline. Michael Stull got on the end of the pass and headed it into the back of the net.
In the 26th minute, The Master’s found the equalizer. A throw-in from the left touchline resulted in the ball pinging around inside the 18-yard box.
Prince Chingancheke ran on a loose ball at seven yards out and one-touched it into the goal.
Less than three minutes later, Master’s took the lead after a flurry of shots finally ended with the ball in the goal. First, a shot by Caden Zierenberg deflected off a Westmont player.
Chingancheke ran onto the rebound, but his shot from the top of the six was saved by Westmont goalkeeper Diego Garcia. The ball remained in play and after bouncing around a bit, found the feet of Tyrik Trotman who scored from 13 yards out.
The Master’s scored again in the 66th minute after a free kick produced a loose ball in front of the net. The ball popped loose near the left post and Robert Castro tapped it in from less than a yard away.
In the 80th minute, The Master’s struck again. The Mustangs controlled a throw-in from near the right corner and got the ball out to Matt Picht on the far side.
Picht sent it back in near the top of the six-yard box and Peyton Gorans redirected it to inside the near post.
Less than a minute later, Westmont scored its second goal. Landon Vanderhyde sent a pass forward, leading Martine Anguiano into the box.
While keeping a defender at bay, Anguiano beat the keeper to the ball and chipped it into the net from nine yards out.
In the 89th minute, the final goal of the game was scored off another rebound. David Cloar gathered in a free kick and took a shot from the left side that bounced off the far post and back into the field of play.
Castro was there to tap the ball into an empty net.
“I definitely feel like today, when we were at our best, we took a step forward,” Cathey said. “I thought some of the ability to play through the opponent and to expose the spaces that were there to expose, was really good.
“We are a team that is closer to our identity and closer to a more complete version of ourselves, even after losing the game in the fashion that we did.
“Set pieces are an important part of the game because a lot of goals come from them. However, I believe that they are controllable. Today, every one of those set pieces had multiple moments where we didn’t make the right decision. That is something we can work on. I am positive that we can be better in those ways.”
Eight players who have made three starts or more sat out today’s game.
“We had a few players that have picked up injuries and a few that had been pushing through injuries,” Cathey said. “These positions are key for us, so we needed to give them an opportunity to recover fully before this week.
“It isn’t a conference game this Saturday, but it is against a conference opponent, and we want to be at our best in that game. ‘At our best’ means everybody healthy and everybody fresh.
“It was also important, today, to give guys opportunities that have earned them by working hard on the practice field,” Cathey said. “It was not as much about giving guys rest as it was about giving guys opportunities.”
The Warriors will play again next Saturday when they travel to Azusa Pacific in the final game before the start of PacWest play. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Women’s Volleyball: Concordia 3, Westmont 2
Westmont Volleyball pushed Concordia to five sets in their first PacWest road match on Saturday night, but in the end, the Golden Eagles got the better of the Warriors to hand Westmont their second loss of conference play.
“We’re so close,” Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin said. “It feels like bad luck at times, not getting some of the plays we should be getting, but we’re still fighting. We’re not backing down and that’s the key. I love seeing that.
“We can’t start slow, though. We aren’t good enough to put ourselves in a hole. These teams are better than us, and we need to come out fast in order to get them.”
The Golden Eagles claimed the first and third sets of the night, but each time, Westmont followed up a loss with a match-tying win.
In set one, CUI opened the night on a 4-0 run, and never allowed Westmont to tie the set. Westmont got closest to CUI when it was 15-13, but then, a trio of kills allowed the Golden Eagles to rebuild their cushion en route to a 25-18 win.
To pull even, Westmont overcame a 12-8 deficit to first tie the game at 14, following a service ace from Hashimoto. From there, the two sides were neck and neck.
Finally, following a 23-23 tie, a block from Distelberg followed by an ace from Terlizzi allowed Westmont to pull away with a 25-23 win.
In set three, CUI was the team to erase a deficit, with Westmont taking 6-2, 10-5, and 15-8 leads.
With the score 18-14, a pair of CUI kills combined with a pair of Westmont attacking errors fully closed the gap, allowing the game to be knotted at 18.
Following a 20-20 tie, CUI collected a kill and a pair of service aces, giving the Golden Eagles their biggest lead at 23-20. Moments later, a kill from CUI gave the home team a 25-21 win to go up 2-1.
Westmont took a 22-18 lead into the end of the fourth set, but CUI threatened to end the match with a four-point swing to tie things at 22. Then, kills from Alexis Dennick and Terlizzi put Westmont up 24-23 before a counter from CUI made it a one-point game again.
In clutch fashion, another kill from Dennick allowed Westmont to force the fifth set with a 25-23 win.
The fifth set saw two sides go back and forth several times, with CUI taking a 10-8 lead late. Then, a kill and a solo block from Phoebe Minch sent a jolt to the Westmont bench, as the senior singlehandedly tied the set at 10.
Westmont later went down 13-11, but again their seniors, Terlizzi and Minch, gave Westmont life with the former recording a kill and the latter a service ace.
Following a 13-13 tie, however, the clock struck midnight, as a kill from CUI and a Westmont attacking error allowed the Golden Eagles to escape with a 15-13 victory, and 3-2 match win.
Individually, Jessie Terlizzi was the lone Warrior with double-digit kills, as the senior hit .308 with a team-high 12 kills. Also on offense, Alexa Shiner collected 18 assists while Ella Hosfeld contributed with 14.
Defensively, Kaili Hashimoto led Westmont with 11 digs, while Taylor Distelberg had a team-high seven blocks.
“Jessie played great,” McGolpin said. “We had her play right side, and she was lights out. Our two middles again had really productive days as well. There’s such good signs, but set three got away from us, and in set five we made too many mistakes.
“There’s little things, but again, we’re right there. We have to limit our mistakes, and we have to start stronger. We need to be mentally prepared to start strong. The good news is that we’re in these games, and sooner or later, the bubble is going to burst.”
Westmont returns to PacWest play next Friday in San Rafael, when they take on Dominican at 7:00 p.m. Links to live coverage will be available on the Westmont Athletics website.