By Brandon Petersen
The Westcliff women's soccer team picked up their first Cal Pac win on their first attempt Friday at Las Lomas Park, where the Warriors came from behind to knock off UC Merced, 3-2.
It was a crazy game, to say the least, complete with ejected fans, bizarre goals, and players from both teams being brutally blasted in the face by deflected passes.
In the end though, the Warriors got what they came for.
"(The win) was extremely important," Sebelle Rojas said. "First game of conference, we just wanted to set the tone for the rest of the season, and thankfully, we were able to."
Merced tied the contest at two apiece in the 66th minute on one of the most unlikely goals you will ever see. Katy Flores deflected a pass that shot into the sky, then bounced off the ground, hopped over the goalie's head and found net.
Turns out Rojas had an even more unpredictable goal in her bag that she pulled out in the 71st minute.
After Sofie Fagereng fired a shot off the crossbar, Rojas was in the box to deflect it, but lost sight of it in a scrum with the keeper and a defender, only to find it again and toe it over the line.
"Well, I saw, I believe it was Sofie, hit that," Rojas said. "And I didn't know what was going to happen, but I figured I would finish the run and see where it was going to take me. It ended up hitting the crossbar, it was my second opportunity, I took a bad touch, unfortunately, and at that point I thought I couldn't do anything. But I hear all my teammates screaming, 'Sebelle, turn around!' So I turned around I realized it's almost in the goal, so I was able to get to it and it went into the net, thankfully."
Merced took an early 1-0 lead when Trinidad Quiroz found Jocelyne Garcia for a one-timer that slotted top right.
Marthe Engelstad responded in the 52nd minute when Samatha Martinez found her in the box for an important goal — perhaps the most important of the game according to head coach Jack Gidney.
"There was hesitancy around the boxes, but between the boxes we were brilliant," he said. "If we can clean up, certainly that last 18 — and there was nerves and adrenaline involved, — we saw when the first one went in the shackles came off, so, I think we are still only touching the surface with this team, I think there is so much more with the depth of talent."
Westcliff's ball-handling allowed the Warriors to control much of the possession. While both teams finished with 12 shots, the Warriors split even, six per half, while Merced only had two in the first, and scrambled with 10 in the back half.
Kiara Fontanilla (four saves) was special again in goal, coming up with some incredibly difficult and eye-popping stops.
"Best we've played in terms of controlling the game," Gidney said. "The preseason was just so tough, that involved a lot of chop and change and adjusting tactically to opposition, but tonight I felt like we could really express ourselves, and they were the best they've been."
Angelina Espinal gave the Warriors their first lead 30 seconds before Merced collected their wild goal.
Espinal took the penalty kick after Westcliff was fouled in the box, and expertly placed it right of the keeper.
"I couldn't be more proud of them with the preseason they've had," Gidney said. "And this game, we went down twice and didn't take 'No' for an answer. That's the kind of thing we can coach as much as we like, but we can't force that.
"That has to come from them, and they gave it to us, so very encouraging."
The Warriors will now gear up for another Cal Pac showdown, this time against La Sierra at the Great Park.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
