Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – A penalty kick proved the difference Wednesday night as the Whittier College Women's Soccer team edged the University of La Verne 1-0 at Memorial Stadium.
It was a must win game for the Purple & Gold and they delivered snapping a two game losing skid thanks to Miranda Yzabal (Whittier, Calif.) who finished a penalty kick in the 7th minute of the game, which was the eventual game-winner.
La Verne earned the first look of the game but missed wide in the 3rd minute. Whittier then pushed on their next possession earning a free kick, which resulted in Yzabal being tripped up in the box inducing a penalty kick. She then went bottom right corner going the opposite way of a diving Jasmine Valadez, which gave the Poets a 1-0 lead, which they would hold.
In the 14th minute, the Poets looked to add to their lead earning a corner kick, which would find the head of Jazmin Gomez (Norwalk, Calif.) but her shot would be turned away by Valadez. Within a six minute span late in the first half the Poets continued to pour on the offense this time with Andrea Aldama (Gardena, Calif.) and Isabela Vargas (Newberg, OR) each getting shots on frame but both would be denied by Valadez.
In the second half, La Verne pressed taking nine shots with five being on frame. Their best look for the equalizer came in the 74th minute off the foot of Andrea Story who found the crossbar off a free kick. Then over the final 15:00 minutes freshman goalkeeper Vanessa Martinez (La Mirada, Calif.) played lights out holding off two final looks by the Leos to preserve the shutout.
Martinez finished with six saves playing all 90:00 minutes. Aldama and Gomez each took three shots with all six being on frame, while Analisa Murillo (Murrieta, Calif.) would add another two.
The Poets and Leopards finished the game deadlocked on shots with 13 apiece, but Whittier was able to hold the 3-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Whittier (5-4-4, 4-4-3 SCIAC) travels this Saturday, October 20 to take on the Athenas of Claremont-M-S beginning at 7:00pm.
