Goals are at a premium in the game of soccer, so scoring early puts enormous pressure on a defense.
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That's exactly what The Master's University women's soccer team did Saturday afternoon on Reese Field, scoring twice in the first 22-plus minutes on the way to a 2-1 victory over Menlo.
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The Mustangs' second GSAC win in three days lifted them to 2-1 in the GSAC and 7-3-3 overall. They trail first-place Westmont by a game.
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The Mustangs put stress on the Menlo defense in the opening minutes, getting shots on goal from senior
Hannah Bahr  and sophomore
Kyndel Borman.
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Both shots were stopped by Menlo goalie Michelle Gonzalez.
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Around the 10th minute , though, Gonzalez couldn't stop the Mustangs' next shot on goal.
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It came from senior
Kayla Sims from 10 yards out and it gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.
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It was Sims' fifth goal of the season, second-most on the club.
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Displaying no let-up, the Mustangs continued to pound away at Gonzalez.
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A Borman shot was saved by the Oaks' goalie at the 12:12 mark.
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Then, at the 22:06 mark, the Mustangs doubled their advantage when a
Sarah Stead corner kick found
Payton Williams, who sent it on to
Suzanne Mabie. Mabie put it past Gonzalez for the second goal of her senior season and a 2-0 lead.
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On the goals by Sims and Mabie, Master's coach
Curtis Lewis said, "Great job on
Kayla Sims and Suzanne on putting the ball away and I was proud of the team for fighting through some decisions that were not going our way."
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The Mustangs didn't score again, but they didn't need to.
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The Oaks halved the deficit on a penalty kick with 12:02 left in the opening half but they wouldn't score again, either.
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Mustang goalie
Lacey Lehman and the defense made sure of that, limiting the Oaks to just one shot on goal in the second half.
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Lehman stopped that and wound up with three saves. The Mustangs get a week off now to prepare for a showdown with No. 7 Westmont next Saturday. Kick-off on Reese Field is set for 11:00 a.m.
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"Credit Menlo for making it difficult until the very end," said Lewis. "In the end, a win is a win in the GSAC and we will take the three points."
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