"Let's go Master's!" was what the fans chanted in the final minute of the game, as The Master's women's soccer team took a 2-1 win over the Hope International Royals at Reese Field in Santa Clarita, Calif. Thursday afternoon.
The Mustangs (13-3-1, 10-2-1 GSAC) looked to make a push up the conference standings by defeating the best team in the GSAC in Hope International (14-2-1, 11-1-1).
But the Royals got on the board early, as they went coast-to-coast and outplayed the defense before opening the scoring a little over four minutes into the game.
More than four minutes later, the Royals lead would disappear.
Senior forward Hannah Kopp, while being pressured, chipped a pass towards junior forward Sinclair Francescon, who popped the ball over the Royals goalkeeper and into the net.
Things would go quiet until the second half when the stalemate was finally broken.
Kopp attempted to cross the ball before it ended up in front of graduate student forward Bekah Micu, where she soared it over the goalkeeper to claim the game-winning goal.
"It was an outstanding goal right in the corner." Women's soccer head coach Esteban Chavez said about Micu's goal. "It was good to finish after a counterattack because it was three against two and we capitalized on that."
The goals by Francescon and Micu, as well as the two assists and six shots by Kopp, allowed the Mustangs to defeat the No. 21 team in the nation, something coach Chavez took notice of.
"The thing is we fought." Coach Chavez said about his team's effort. "It was a hard game for us because they are a good team... As far as energy, the fact that we had to work for 90 minutes, the girls bought into that. That was the biggest thing, we didn't play too cautiously, we weren't conservative, we took our chances to go forward… We took our risk, we took our chances and it worked out for the girls."
And their win not only helped them in the standings but in the GSAC Tournament. With Hope International playing against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Saturday, a Royals win and a TMU win over Life Pacific Saturday would allow the Mustangs to overtake the Eagles and get home field advantage for the semi-final match.
"If Embry-Riddle [loses] we could be playing at home for the playoffs. It helps us in the rankings… this is gonna move us up and there's a potential that, if we do well in the conference tournament, we could move on and play in the [NAIA Tournament]."
But before all of that can be decided, the Mustangs will conclude their regular season and celebrate Senior Day with a Saturday 11 a.m. game against Life Pacific University at Reese Field.
"We cannot afford to not win that game. It has to be a convincing win… If we struggle, this win [today] might not mean a lot." Coach Chavez said.
