Senior midfielder Heather Brown took the field for the first time in a week and scored twice within the first 12 minutes of the game to give Westmont Women’s Soccer (4-4, 1-1) a 2-1 victory over The Master’s (2-5-4, 1-1 GSAC) on Wednesday afternoon at Russ Carr Field.

“I think I was just excited because I haven’t been able to play for a week,” said Brown who has been resting a sore knee.

The Warriors’ first goal came in just the third minute of the game. Brown passed the ball from the left sideline ahead to freshman forward Jameshia Washington. Washington dribbled down the sideline and then turned at the corner and broke for the goal. A pass by Washington in front of the net resulted in a scramble with the ball popping out to junior forward Amy Lawson.

Lawson dribbled to the center of the field and launched a ball from the top of the box which deflected off a Mustang defender to set up a corner kick. Junior midfielder Taylor Callan sent the corner kick to the front of the goal where Brown was waiting and headed it in.

“J.J. (Washington) earned the first corner kick by getting inline and creating an opportunity for us,” said head coach Rebecca Mouw. “It’s fun to see players come into their own. J.J. did a great job realizing what she brings to the team, which is her ability to get inline for us, get crosses off and get in front of the goal for us.

“I was pleased with the intensity and attacking mentality that the team came out with,” continued Mouw. “Taylor had some great balls from the corner and Heather was right on with that first one.”

“I’ve wanted a corner kick to come into my area all season long,” said Brown. “Taylor gave a nice easy corner kick and it was easy to put away.”

Westmont’s second goal came midway through the twelfth minute.

“Candace (Marques) crossed a nice ball which went just past Kayla (Crandall),” explained Brown. “I got a knee on it and it barely hit the keeper and rolled all the way in.”

“Candace played some great long diagonal balls today,” said Mouw. “She was very consistent and that gave our forwards a chance to get on the end of things.”

Defensively, the Warriors allowed the Mustangs few opportunities. The Master’s took just five shots in the game compared to 15 for the Warriors.

“We were pretty solid in the back. The Master’s is a strong, physical team which battled. I was proud to see our team step up and rise to the occasion. Our players won balls and kept (the Mustangs) out of our back third for the most part.”

The Mustangs made the game interesting in the fifty-seventh minute when Natalie Totaro scored on a free kick from 25 yards out to cut the deficit to 2-1. Totaro lifted the ball over a wall of Warriors and found the top of the net.

But despite a frenetic pace in the last few minutes of the game, the Mustangs could not produce another goal and the clock expired to give Westmont the win. Warrior goalkeeper Roxanne Love recorded three saves in the victory while Lindsay Marr had six saves for the Mustangs.

Westmont will try pick up another three points in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings when they travel to Fullerton on Saturday for a 2:00 pm game with Hope International.

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