SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Concordia women's soccer team secured both a 3-1 victory over Westmont and a spot in the upcoming PacWest Conference Tournament after jumping out to an early lead.
Sarah Venegas scored twice and
Irandy Erazo provided two assists as the Golden Eagles were in front for more than 80 minutes of the contest.
After a corner kick by
Sloane De Torres and a shot by
Reagan Van Horn caromed back towards the middle of the pitch, Concordia settled the ball, kept possession and turned back up field.
Mikayla Gonzalez poked the ball ahead to
Irandy Erazo, who immediately directed the ball towards her classmate
Bella Barrett. The senior connection worked to perfection as last year's PacWest Player of the Year found daylight and cashed in at point blank range to put CUI up 1-0 in the eighth minute of action.
Later in the second half, Erazo helped set the table again. She took a pass near midfield and saw an opening for one of her teammates. She fed a great ball towards
Sarah Venegas, who alluded one defender and then went straight to goal. Venegas was able to manuever around the Westmont goalie and used her left foot to send it home in to the back of the net. CUI led 2-0 at the break.
Following intermission, neither team scored for about 25 minutes until Westmont got on the board.
CUI earned another great scoring opportunity down the stretch when Venegas converted a penalty kick to close out the scoring for the 3-1 victory.
CLICK HERE for the updated PacWest women's soccer standings
CUI will host Biola for its regular season finale this Saturday, Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. on Senior Day. Both teams have now clinched one of the four spots along with Point Loma and Hawaii Hilo for the upcoming PacWest Conference Tournament. Both CUI and Biola are playing for seeding.
There are still a wide range of scenarios remaining for seeding as Concordia could finish anywhere from PacWest regular season champs to the No. 4 seed.
A win for CUI on Halloween -
and a loss by Point Loma to Westmont on Saturday - would give CUI its first PacWest regular season title in women's soccer. A win by CUI
and a tie or win by Point Loma would give the Golden Eagles the No. 2 seed. A draw between CUI and Biola gives CUI the third seed, while a loss to Biola would assure CUI the No. 4 seed.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's soccer schedule
Hawaii Hilo is hosting this year's PacWest Conference Tournament for women's soccer. The semifinals will be on Thursday, Nov. 5 while the Championship Game is Saturday, Nov. 7 at the same location.
CLICK HERE for the PacWest Conference Championships page for women's soccer
