A goal in the 63rd minute by Hannah Gonzales from Life Pacific University was the dagger to The Master's women's soccer team as the Lady Mustangs fell 1-0 to the Warriors Wednesday morning.
TMU (9-4, 6-2) did everything they needed to do to win, out-shooting LPU 18-4 (including 14 second-half shots), but the ball never found the back of the net.
"Obviously a huge disappointment, not with the girls but with the outcome," said TMU Head Coach Esteban Chavez. "I had been saying to the team, 'Don't sleep on them. They have been playing everyone well.' But the more we don't capitalize on opportunities, the more it helps the other team. It leads to frustration and panic on our part. We played well enough to win this game convincingly, but we didn't. So the credit goes to Life Pacific."
When these two teams played each other less than two weeks ago on Oct. 2, The Master's came away with a 5-1 win on Reese Field.
Different outcome Wednesday.
Kegan Brunnemann led TMU's attack with six shots followed by
Maddy Traylor with four.Â
The loss drops the Lady Mustangs back to third place with 18 points. Embry-Riddle, ranked No. 9 in the country, is undefeated and currently sits on top of the conference with 21 points followed by Soka with 19.
Only four teams make it to the GSAC Championship Tournament, so the remaining five games in the regular season loom large.
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"We really have to win now if we want home field advantage in the conference tournament," Chavez said. "And the one that is breathing down our neck is who we play on Saturday on the road."
The Master's will play Soka Saturday on the road in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
