The Rematch of the Cal Pac Tournament Final

Brenninkmeijer photo by Sanjay Joshi
Brenninkmeijer photo by Sanjay Joshi
September 8, 2023

By: Chase Dodge

What Happened?

Westcliff Warriors opened up conference play with a rematch of the 2022 Cal Pac tournament final with #15 Embry-Riddle.

Game opened up with ERAU having the edge with shots and corner kicks in the match.

Warriors defense was strong to hold back the Eagles. However the Eagles opened up in the 24th minute with a goal from Yoshioka.

20 minutes later the Eagles extended their lead to 2-0. 2nd half was a little bit of the same at the first but the Warriors were able to stop the eagles offensively keeping the score 2-0.

The Warriors have a lot of season in front of them. Time to regroup and assess. 

Key Players

Warriors back line was impressive in clearing dangerous balls from the Eagles.

Jaida Wilson, Christine Thorvaldsen, Kylee Brandau and Erika Olivera-Gutierrez were all impressive in pressuring the Eagles.

Ana Martinez Moreno held the line in goal with 4 saves.

Kylie Brenninkmeijer played a lot of crucial minutes and added a boost of energy to the game for the Warriors.

Coaches Notes

"Always going to be a tough start to the season when you play a top 25 team in the country and also a team that carried the emotional edge from our last encounter.
 
They came out in a different shape than we were expecting so it took us a little while to adapt to the wide areas and what spaces we were prepared to go and step out to. 
 
Unfortunately by the time you get to make that adjustment against a team of this level you're chasing the game cause they are a top team who punish you for it.
 
Thought we ran our socks off, Christine and Jaida in particular showed their class, unfortunately just one too far for us tonight. We lost 2 of the first 2 last year.
 
It's not how you start it's how you finish. We will regroup tomorrow and focus on Park on Saturday."