For ninety minutes, the ball failed to find the back of the net for either team. But just 47 seconds into overtime, Khadijah Greenwood of Cal State Los Angeles (1-1-1), gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 victory over #11 Westmont (1-2-1).

“It is amazing how differently you feel about the game, just based on the result,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “If the same game had ended 0-0 or we had won 1-0, we would be feeling like we had made good progress over our previous outings.”

The Warriors dominated possession of the ball throughout regulation and out shot the Golden Eagles 11-5. Westmont also posted a 4-1 corner kick advantage.

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Westmont women’s soccer, ranked thirteenth in the NAIA preseason poll, opened the 2008 campaign with a 1-1 tie against #5 Concordia (Ore.) on Monday in Portland. After a scoreless first half, the Warriors found themselves down 1-0 after an own goal.

Jackie Pronovost of Concordia (1-0-1) launched a long pass into the middle of the box ten minutes into the second half where it connected with the head of her twin sister, Justine Pronovost. But a save on the header by Roxanne Love, Westmont’s sophomore keeper, prevented the goal. Unfortunately, the ball came lose and an attempt to clear the ball by the Warriors produced a score for the Cavaliers.

Three minutes later, Love suffered a fracture to her orbital lobe in a collision and left the game. Freshman Natalie Johnston was called upon to tend the net. The status of Love’s return to the Warrior lineup is unknown at the present time.

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Taking his team into Harder Stadium to face the NCAA’s ninth ranked team is an exciting challenge for Westmont Men’s Soccer head coach Dave Wolf. Wolf knows going in that the opportunity is special, and the challenge significant. Westmont came up short in the forty-sixth edition of the Bryant & Sons Cup, falling to the UC Santa Barbara Gaucho’s 4-0 in the exhibition match.

“I was disappointed for the most part because I felt like we were capable of producing a bit more quality than we did,” acknowledged Wolf. “It’s a real hard setting, they’re a great team and you know that your margin for error is very small. But I believe in the players that we have and in their ability to deal with those small margins of error. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that too often over the balance of 90 minutes.”

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Mark Patton
June 3, 2008
Reprinted with permission from the Santa Barbara News-Press.

Gayle Beebe was in the first few months of his Odyssey as Westmont College’s president last fall when a seductive sound drew him outdoors, like Ulysses to the Sirens.

It was the ping of bat striking ball, and it turned the one-time high school slugger into a diva in search of a diamond. He soon found himself in the batter’s box at Russ Carr Field, wondering if there was any pop left in his bat.

“I made a fleeting attempt at a comeback,” Beebe recalled, “and I took some batting practice with the team.”

He swung mightily and, indeed, heard a big pop. He felt it, too.

Twelve student-athletes were honored on Thursday night at the Fourteenth Golden Eagle Award Dinner held at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Referred to as the ‘best night of the year for Westmont Athletics,’ the event is sponsored by the Pacific Beverage Company and Pete and Gerd Jordano.

“It’s even better than our 28-point win over Azusa Pacific,” said associate athletic director and head women’s basketball coach Kirsten McKnight in welcoming the 125 attendees.

Westmont athletic director Dave Wolf served as master of ceremonies for the event and noted that the Westmont staff of head coaches tallied a combined 114 years of experience and that for seven of the coaches, their entire head coaching experience has been at Westmont.

Westmont has landed a spot in the top-ten in the first release of the 2007-08 standings of the NAIA U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup Standings. The Director’s Cup awards points to an institution based on how each sport finishes at a national level.

“This is encouraging to me and a tribute to the good work that was done in the fall, both by our coaches and by our student-athletes,” said Westmont Athletic Director Dave Wolf. “We want to be in the top ten annually in the Director’s Cup ranking. From that vantage point, we have hit a mark that we want to hit. I know that staying there is a challenge, but my hope is that this will serve as a motivator for our entire staff to keep aiming for that.”

Westmont will begin live video broadcasts of all home basketball games on Saturday, December 1. Westmont will host the Hawks of San Diego Christian in a men’s and women’s doubleheader. The women’s broadcast begins at 5:15 p.m. (PST) and the men’s starts at approximately 7:15 p.m.

Senior Heather Brown and sophomore Kevin Kihlstrom will serve as broadcast announcers. Brown, a member of Westmont’s women’s soccer team, is a communication studies major who is pursuing a career in sports broadcasting. A native of Huntington Beach, Brown completed an internship with Fox Sports this past summer.

Kihlstrom, also a communication studies major, has served for the past two years as an announcer at Westmont sporting events. A local product, Kihlstrom attended Laguna Blanca School before beginning his collegiate career at Westmont. Kihlstrom is also working toward a career in sports broadcasting.

The 29 pay-per-view broadcasts are available at http://www.westmont.edu/warriortv. The cost is $6.50 per game. Season packages are also available.

Westmont middle blockers Katie Sharp and Katey Lowry combined for 29 kills as Westmont Volleyball (13-15, 6-13) swept San Diego Christian (6-24, 0-19) in three games (30-19, 30-21, 30-16) on Friday evening. Sharp posted an attack percentage of .636 and Lowry hit .423.

“Every once in a while everything comes together and tonight was one of those nights,” said head coach Jim Smoot. “Transition, hitting, setting, passing - it was all on tonight. We use a three-point rating system for passing (with three being best) and in game one every pass was a three.

“Katie Pace probably set the best match of here career,” continued Smoot. “Both her choices about who to set and her set locations were perfect. Katie Sharp and Katey Lowry obviously had excellent games, and Jenise DeBie was exceptional.”

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