COSTA MESA – The Vanguard women's soccer team exploded for four goals in a dominant 4-0 victory over Jessup on Saturday, putting the exclamation point on a celebratory Senior Day at VU Soccer Field.
After suffering consecutive 1-0 shutouts to The Master's and Menlo, the Lions restored order with their second-highest goal output of the season. The Blue and Gold honored seniors Payton Sak, Macee Okey, Faith Carlson, Avery Collins, Kaylee Nelsen, Celeste Kiernan and Katarina Flores in their final regular season home game.
The Lions spaced out their goals with two in the first half and two more in the second, with Sak producing VU's second goal in a thrilling moment for the Henderson, Nevada native.
VU blitzed Jessup throughout the contest, owning the edge in shots (23-8) and corner kicks (7-1).
Jena Howard led the Lions with five shots as her activity around the goal opened up header opportunities that just missed on multiple occasions.
Keeper Jordin Holmquist-Wilder made three saves to secure her third clean sheet. The Lions chased Warrior starter Madeline Jern in favor of Lilliana Fenn after Jern allowed her third goal in the 61st minute. Jern finished with five of Jessup's seven saves.
The Lions improved to 6-3-4 overall and 2-2-1 in the Golden State Athletic Conference, while the Warriors fell to 5-9-1 and 1-4-0 in conference play.
What Happened?: The Lions struck early as Howard worked the right side and hit a tidy cross to freshman Adiah Edwardson, who made the perfect finish for the 1-0 lead at the 8:07 mark.
VU nearly took a 2-0 lead in the 21st minute on a pair of dangerous headers by Kaitlyn Currier. Jern made the save on the first attempt, and the second one just missed right of the post.
The Lions doubled their lead in the 29th minute when Hailey Garvin beat her defender and dribbled along the endline, slotting a pass across the goal mouth to Sak, who tapped the ball past Jern for her first goal of the season and the second of her career. It was Garvin's second helper.
The remainder of the first half was uneventful as VU held a 9-3 advantage in shots going into halftime.
Howard looked dangerous in the early moments of the second half as she took four shots in the first 12 minutes, three on headers as she lurked in front of the goal.
As the scoring chances continued to pile up, VU capitalized on a third goal in the 59th minute. Kennedy Cypher, who peppered the Warriors with several threatening passes into the box all game long, started the sequence after collecting a pass along the endline on the left side. She settled the ball and lofted a perfect service to Bethany Urrabazo, who half volleyed her shot into the upper left corner.
Urrabazo scored her second goal of the season, while Cypher collected her team-leading fourth assist.
The Warriors created their best scoring opportunity with 16 minutes left to play. Jenessa Cisneros took a shot that Holmquist-Wilder deflected toward the goal line. Carlson hustled and cleared the ball off the line just in time, before Alaina Smathers followed with another shot that Holmquist-Wilder snagged.
With Garvin waiting on the sideline to replace Fong, the junior midfielder made a grand exit prior to the substitution. Fong stole a pass, zig zagged between three defenders and maneuvered her way along the endline with some deft dribbling. She unleashed a bullet past Fenn to the near post to give VU the 4-0 lead at the 81:14 mark.
Fong took over the team lead with her fourth goal on the unassisted effort.
Carlson, Collins and Nelsen played the full 90 minutes and shut down the Warrior attack from the backline.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions are unbeaten (5-0-3) this season when scoring two or more goals.
What Was Said?: "The team knew we needed to get back to our style of play today and that's exactly what we did," said Head Coach Emily Reynolds. "They combined to create some excellent chances and our goal scorers put them away with great composure."
What's Next?: The Blue and Gold head out on the road to pay a visit to the Arizona schools, meeting up with Arizona Christian on Thursday, October 26 at 8:00 p.m.
