California Baptist University
Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
Puttin On The Witz
9/21/2012 5:34:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Since then the Lancers left for the NCAA and the PacWest Conference and the Cougars followed a year later.
Thursday night the rivalry was renewed with the defending PacWest Champion Lancers getting a 1-0 win under the lights at the Cougar Soccer Complex.
"It's always great to go on the road and get a win, especially against a good team like APU," said CBU Head Coach Kristen St. Clair. "The girls worked so hard tonight and found the determination and will to pull out this win."
Bernadette Witz drove home the game winner in the 61st minute, getting her left foot on a clearing attempt out of the box by an APU defender. The shot came after Daelyn Paul sent a free kick in from just outside the penalty area.
It was Witz's fourth goal of the season.
After that there were nearly 30 minutes left on the clock to kill.
"Bernie has been scoring clutch goals like that for us all year," said St. Clair. "She really came through for us. After that the girls had a real composed sense of urgency to finish this game. Rosie was great in goal. She came up with big saves every time we needed them."
Rosie Nakata came up with several big plays in goal down the stretch including a save on a point blank shot from APU's Jacqueline Conforto.
The Lancers held possession for nearly seven of the last 10 minutes in the game.
Nakata's clean sheet was the first shutout of the season for the Lancers. She came up with four saves on the night.
Kelly Jenks nearly gave the Lancers a comfortable two-goal cushion in the 83rd minute when her header hit the crossbar. Jenks had a team-high five shots in the game, three on target.
Michelle Wieland had to make 10 saves in the game for APU as the Lancers put 11 balls on target.
"This was a great team effort," said St. Clair. "The girls did a great job keeping the pressure on throughout the full 90 minutes. Now it's back to work for the next one."
The Lancers continue conference play Oct. 2 when they host Point Loma.
The win moves CBU to 4-1-1 overall, 3-0 PacWest on the season. APU falls to 3-4, 2-1.
