At a time of year when teams are clawing and scratching to reach the postseason, hoping against hope to extend the year by one game, and then by one more, the aim of Saturday's match was actually to play less soccer.
The Master's University and Westmont College stepped on Reese Field tied for second place in the Golden State Athletic Conference women's soccer standings. The winner – or Westmont with a tie – would receive a quarterfinal bye in next week's conference tournament.
Here's the short of it: the Mustangs, despite a two-goal lead in the second half, will play at home in Friday's quarterfinals.
Westmont scored twice after the break and broke Master's back with a golden goal almost nine minutes into overtime.
"You can't give up two-goal leads, and we've done it twice in nine days," said Mustang coach Curtis Lewis, referencing a 3-3 tie at Menlo College last week. "… There's a flaw in our psyche, and we have to fix it."
Still, Lewis was proud of a dominant first half and a game that, overall, was an improvement from two weeks ago when the teams met in Santa Barbara.
No. 14 Master's (13-4-1, 6-3-1 GSAC) took an early lead then, too, but Westmont reeled off five goals and allowed just one more.
It left a bitter taste, but the Mustangs felt the game wasn't as lopsided as the scoreboard. They felt they could compete with No. 9 Westmont, and Saturday they proved it.
"It shows that we can hang with the top dogs," said Mustang forward Jasmine Parada, who extended a one-score lead in the 61st minute with her 16th goal of the season.
In the sequence, Kellian Ahearn lofted a towering pass over Westmont's back line, and Parada ran onto it. The keeper closed. Parada kicked the ball past her.
"Probably one of my favorite goals," she said.
Hailey Gomillion opened the scoring in the 18th minute off assists from Lynnae George and Parada. The Mustangs outshot Westmont 6-4 at the break, but that didn't tell the story of an impressive 45 minutes.
"I thought we absolutely dominated the first half," Lewis said.
The second half held a twist. Westmont began playing possession soccer, switching script from a first half of direct play.
Maddi Berthoud – who scored four goals against Master's on Oct. 14 – drew Westmont within one in the 69th minute. Then Bri Johnson followed suit in the 87th to tie the score.
"If we want to be champions," George said, "we have to hold each other to a champion's standard."
There was still overtime. But a tie wouldn't do, as Westmont held the head-to-head tiebreaker. Johnson made sure it didn't matter, booting the ball into the net from medium range.
Westmont rushed the field. Master's fell to 2-1 in overtime games this season.
"I think what brings joy to the seniors is that this isn't their last hurrah. We get to keep going," said Parada, whose team will host Arizona Christian on Friday at 2 p.m.
