Westminster picked up its second win of the season Friday, March 13, holding off UCCS 12-11 in a dramatic home opener at Salt Lake City. The Griffins improved to 2-3 on the season and 1-0 in RMAC play, while UCCS fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in conference.

Game Breakdown

First Quarter

Westminster wasted no time getting on the board, with Olivia Petrosky netting two quick goals — the first assisted by Jessie Giacomazzi — to put the Griffins up 2-0. UCCS responded with a Charlotte Fannin goal to make it 2-1, before Madi Rogers scored unassisted to push the lead back to two at 3-1. The Mountain Lions closed the gap on a man-up free-position goal from Allison Hoffman in the final seconds to trail 3-2 after one. UCCS outshot Westminster 7-6 in the period with Sienna Garcia making 3 saves in goal.

Second Quarter

Petrosky struck again early in the second, assisted by Ava Deakins, to extend the Westminster lead to 4-2. UCCS answered with a man-up goal from Brielle Fannin to cut it to 4-3, but the Griffins responded with back-to-back goals from Jessie Giacomazzi and Holly Shoughro — the latter on a free-position shot — to push the lead to 6-3 heading into halftime. Westminster went 1-1 on clears in the period and Garcia made 3 saves to keep the Mountain Lions at bay.

Third Quarter

The third quarter was the most chaotic of the game, with multiple lead changes. UCCS opened with a man-up free-position goal from Sofia Watts to make it 6-4, before Westminster's Adison Bendorf — assisted by Petrosky — and Jordan Williamson — assisted by Deakins — pushed the lead back to 8-5. UCCS then rattled off four straight goals, including strikes from Charlotte Fannin, Ella Mills, Brielle Fannin, and Rylie Maready, to tie the game at 8-8 heading into the fourth. Westminster was outscored 5-2 in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Westminster came out of the fourth quarter determined, with Jessie Giacomazzi scoring at 13:22 assisted by Lilliana Montano to retake the lead at 9-8. Petrosky extended it to 10-8 with her fourth goal of the game assisted by Deakins, before adding her fifth at 7:08 on an assist from Jordan Williamson to make it 11-9. Grace Szwedko iced the game at 2:48 with a Deakins-assisted goal to put Westminster up 12-9. UCCS scored twice in the final minute to make the final 12-11, but the Griffins held on for the win. Westminster put up 8 shots on goal in the fourth, its best offensive quarter of the game.

Griffin Performances

Olivia Petrosky was the offensive standout with 5 goals and 1 assist on 7 shots, including a pair of man-advantage goals, in a dominant home-opener performance. Jessie Giacomazzi added 2 goals and 1 assist on 5 shots. Holly Shoughro, Grace Szwedko, Adison Bendorf, Madi Rogers, and Jordan Williamson each tallied 1 goal. Ava Deakins led the team with 4 assists without recording a shot, while Lilliana Montano and Jordan Williamson each added 1 assist. Sienna Garcia went the full 60 minutes in goal, finishing with 9 saves and allowing 11 goals.

Defensively, Marianna Dick turned in another landmark performance — surpassing 100 career caused turnovers, now sitting at 104 all-time and holding the program record outright in that category. She also reached 100 career ground balls, moving her to second all-time in Westminster history. On the day she posted 6 ground balls and 7 caused turnovers. Westminster dominated the ground ball battle 34-23 and went a perfect 14-14 on clears.

Up Next

Westminster will look to build on its home-opener victory as the Griffins look to face Regis University on Sunday 3-15 at home.