SALT LAKE CITY – Westminster beat New Mexico Highlands 9-2 on Sunday at Dumke Field for its second straight win. Nine different Griffins scored. Westminster outshot the Cowgirls 40-13, put 24 shots on target to seven for Highlands, and scored seven of its goals in the second half.
Game Breakdown
First Half
Westminster got on the board in the 7th minute. Ashley Cardozo had a shot saved by JaNae Romero in the 6th, and Abigail Austin sent one high before she scored her second goal of the season on an assist from Kayla Sato at 6:27 to make it 1-0.
The Griffins kept up the pressure. Xevani Salanoa went high in the 8th minute, and Skye Kennedy had a shot saved the same minute. Natalie Cardin had a shot saved in the 12th, and Kennedy and Cardin each had another saved in the 14th. Cardin had a shot blocked in the 22nd, and Adrianna Pulver and Cardin both went wide in the 24th and 25th minutes.
Natalie Cardin doubled the lead in the 36th minute. She scored her second goal of the season, unassisted, moments after Romero saved another of her shots. Highlands' only two shots of the half came from Dalma Zsigó in the 31st minute, and both were saved. Macy Reed had a shot saved in the 39th, and Chelsea Hartmann, Reed and Mya Williamson each sent late attempts off target. Westminster led 2-0 at the break, having outshot Highlands 21-2 with 10 shots on target.
Second Half
Kennedy made it 3-0 less than two minutes after the restart, scoring her first goal of the season on an assist from Ella Schutjer at 46:37. Highlands answered 60 seconds later, when Mia Roybal scored her second goal of the year at 47:37 off an assist from Ninon Rigal, making it 3-1.
Westminster kept attacking. Kennedy and Cardozo each had shots in the 54th minute, Marin Mackenzie saved a Maya Miljatovich shot in the 57th, and three more Westminster attempts came in the 58th. Carly Bramwell then scored her first goal of the season in the 63rd minute, assisted by Pulver and Reed, to make it 4-1.
Rylee Cudney replaced Mackenzie in goal in the 67th minute. Pulver scored her third goal of the season at 67:39 to make it 5-1, and Laine Romney scored her second at 71:32 to make it 6-1, both unassisted.
Highlands cut into the lead in the 75th minute, when Kenza Daher-Hassan scored her first goal of the season, unassisted, to make it 6-2. Westminster responded with a burst of three goals in under six minutes. Madelyn Feick scored her first goal at 78:08, and one second later Williamson scored her first on an assist from Callie Hanson, making it 8-2. Catherine Carpenter then scored her first at 83:53, unassisted, for the final 9-2 score.
Cudney finished the match and saved shots from Taylor Delgado and Alicia Myers in the 87th and 89th minutes. Westminster outshot Highlands 19-11 in the second half.
Griffin Performances
Cardin led the team with six shots, four on target, plus a goal in 47 minutes. Kennedy added five shots, four on target, and a goal. Cardozo took five shots, four on target. Pulver had a goal and an assist, and Bramwell, Austin, Romney, Williamson, Feick and Carpenter each scored. Sato, Schutjer, Reed and Hanson each had an assist. Mackenzie earned the win in goal, making two saves in 66 minutes, and Cudney made two saves in 23 minutes.
Up Next
Westminster stays home to host Pueblo on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m.
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