It was appropriate that Mustang women's soccer coach Curtis Lewis wore a brown suit Friday for his team's home GSAC tournament quarterfinal. For Lewis, prone to more-casual attire, was asking his team for a raised level of professionalism in its rematch with Arizona Christian.
Namely, Lewis wanted a shutout, and the No. 15 Mustangs delivered in a 4-0 win, advancing to a semifinal versus Westmont on Wednesday. The game will be at 11 a.m. at host Vanguard University.
"You don't want to get in a shootout every game," Lewis said, "because you may have a day where your offense only scores one goal."
That's rarely been the case for a Mustang team that boasts the conference's leading goal-scorer and a host of other playmakers. But this time of year, Lewis said, brings matchups with top teams and, naturally, tighter games. The Mustangs (14-4-1), in turn, want to play tighter defense, and it starts with decision-making.
"From the forwards back, we have to be making wise decisions in distributing the ball and servicing the ball," said Lewis, whose squad limited the Firestorm to three shots after halftime.
Master's keeper Kaylee Poffek made three saves in a first half dominated by the Mustangs.
Vanessa Lourenco opened the scoring in the 27th minute off assists from Hannah Bahr and Taylor Rowden. Sarah Stead scored three minutes later, booting the ball high into the net from the top of the 18-yard box, the day's offensive highlight.
Then Sierra Carrasco and Taylor Rowden each scored to help the Mustangs avoid the dramatics of the teams' first meeting, when Master's escaped Phoenix with a 2-1 win to move to 4-0 in conference.
Master's finished its GSAC slate 6-3-1, good for a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, which, after Friday, means facing Westmont for the third time this season. 

The Mustangs lost 5-2 in Santa Barbara on Oct. 14. They felt it was closer than the score.
The Mustangs lost 3-2 in overtime in Newhall on Oct. 28. They held a 2-0 lead at one point in the second half.
Now, a third go.
"Sometimes you say as a team, 'Oh no, we have to play them again.' But I think our team is very much hungry," Lewis said.
