Amidst the festivities for the team’s seniors for the final regular season game, there was a soccer match, as The Master’s University women’s soccer team took a convincing 5-0 win over Life Pacific at Reese Field on Sat. Nov. 2.

The Mustangs employed a relentless offense and shutdown defense, recording 37 shots over Life Pacific’s single shot.
But, despite all the shots in the first half, the teams would head into the locker room in a 0-0 tie. However, the Mustangs would use the final 45 minutes to change that.

More than a minute into the second half, freshman defender Bryanna Elias passed the ball back to graduate student forward Bekah Micu, where she arched the ball into the top right corner of the net to get the first goal of the game.

Roughly two minutes later, Elias sent a corner kick to the front of the net, where freshman Kegan Bunnemann popped the header into the goal to make it 2-0.

Less than a minute after that, Elias sent another corner kick toward the net, finding senior midfielder Kate Merical, who tipped the ball past the goalkeeper to record the third Mustang goal in five minutes.

Seven minutes later, junior forward Sinclair Francescon attempted to cross the ball to senior forward Hannah Kopp, deflecting the ball away from the net and finding junior defender Madison Smith as she fired the ball past the goalkeeper.

With less than 11 minutes left in the game, senior defender Alyssa Luna sent the ball toward the net, where freshman defender Sasha Redshaw popped the ball over the goalkeeper to score the final goal of the game, ending the match at 5-0.

It was all smiles and cheers for the Mustangs and the packed crowd, as the team celebrated Senior Day for senior goalkeeper Jess Furr, senior forwards Mary Mobley, Hannah Kopp, Kate Merical, senior defender Alyssa Luna and graduate student forward Bekah Micu in a pregame ceremony.

And while the Mustangs had a slow start in the first half, their second half heroics were a relief for TMU Head Coach Esteban Chavez, who was all smiles for the last game of the regular season.

“It was 0-0 at halftime.” he said. “It does get a little bit nerve wracking. But to start off the second half with three goals in the first five minutes, that was a big relief… They took advantage of their opportunities and the way they did that was by having way better decisions on shot selection. We were forcing unrealistic scenarios and this time we were very selective in our shooting moments.”

The next game for the Mustangs will be in the semifinals of the GSAC Championships, against Hope International, on Friday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. on Reese Field in Newhall.

For more information visit GoMustangs.com.