Westmont Women’s Soccer Hangs 10 Goals on Academy of Art in Victory

Westmont Women’s Soccer (6-2-5, 4-1-2 PacWest) had no trouble finding the back of the net in Monday’s 10-0 victory over Academy of Art (2-13, 0-8).

The victory marks the fourth time in program history that the Warriors have recorded double-digit goals, the last time being in 2016.

The scoring started in the 15th minute – in which the Warriors scored twice. What turned out to be the winning goal took place after Alyssa Zahiralis sent a ball over the top to near the end line on the right side.

Kennah Shaffer wrestled the ball away from a defender, then took two dribbles before chipping the ball with her right foot over the head of the goalkeeper. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar and continued into the goal.

Just 51 seconds later, Amarys Machado made it a 2-0 game. Shayna Scott sent a ball down the left side where Amelia Villa picked it up on the dribble and headed to the end line before cutting in toward the goal.

Villa passed the ball back to Machado who was at the top of the six-yard box. Machado needed just one touch to send the ball into the center of the net.

In the 18th minute, Machado scored again. Villa delivered a pass to Machado on the left side as she raced downfield. On the dribble, Machado tapped the ball to her left to elude the keeper, then fired from six yards out into an empty net.

Machado, who later in the game added three assists to her pair of goals, was recognized as the PacWest Player of the Week.

The Warriors extended their advantage to 4-0 in the 26th minute. From within the center circle, Sydney Reese passed the ball forward to Villa. Villa then dribbled into the box before firing off her shot from 10 yards out into the far crease.

Just two minutes later, the Urban Knight’s goalkeeper punted a ball downfield that came to Machado. Machado settled the ball, then passed it off to Grace Duckens on the left side.

Duckens, unencumbered by defenders, dribbled past the keeper and touched the ball inside the near post.

The final goal of the first half came in the 33rd minute of play. Grace Wilhelm sent a ball into the box where Olivia Gabelein fought for possession with two defenders.

Gabelein sent a short pass to Annalise Romero who took one touch, then made a right-footed pass inside the near post for the goal. It was her first goal of the season.

The Warriors picked up in the second half where they left off in the first. A minute and one-half into the second period, Taylie Scott sent a free kick from just outside the center circle to the left side of the goal.

After the second bounce in the box, Machado saved it from going over the end line and sent it bounding in front of the goal. Duckens was there to head in her second goal of the day and her fourth for the season.

Ten minutes later, in the 57th minute, Villa recorded her second goal of the game.  Duckens took a pass on the left touch from Shayna Stock and sent it to Machado.

Machado redirected it back to Duckens who was now breaking toward the goal. When she reached the left edge of the 18-yard box, Duckens sent it across to the front of the goal. Villa ran on the ball at the near post.

Her shot hit the inside of the post and ricocheted in for the score.

In the 73rd minute, Ainsley Martin received a pass on the right side from Wilhelm and raced down the touchline. Martin beat her defender, then fired a pass across the mouth of the goal.

From three yards out, Angelina Garcia redirected the shot in the air with her left foot into the net for her first collegiate goal.

The Warriors’ final goal of the game was recorded in the 79th minute. Reese took a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that the keeper blocked but could not corral.

Lauren Schwartz ran on the loose ball and used her right foot to hit it inside the near post. It was also the first goal of her college career.

With the win, Westmont is now in a three-way tie with Azusa Pacific (7-4-4, 4-1-2) and Chaminade (6-4-4, 4-2-2) for fourth place in the PacWest standings.

With 14 points, that trio of teams is one point behind third-place Point Loma Nazarene (9-3-1, 5-2), four points behind Hawai’i Hilo (10-2-1, 6-2) and five points behind frontrunner Concordia (11-1-1, 6-0-1).

This Saturday, the Warriors will take on Dominican (5-9-1, 1-5-1) in a men’s and women’s doubleheader. The men will begin their game at 10:00 a.m. with the women’s game getting a 12:30 p.m. start.