Warriors bend but don’t break in tie vs. T.O. Lancer girls

lannon harley/The Acorn

The Westlake girls’ soccer team remained undefeated when it tied Thousand Oaks 1-1 in a game played at Westlake Monday.

The tie did, though, put a blemish on an otherwise perfect Marmonte League season for the Warriors, who are now 9-0-1 in league play (13-0-4 overall).

"Obviously we would have liked to have won," said Westlake coach Frank Marino. "This was a game we should have won."

The Warrior coach added, however, that the tough battle vs. their Conejo Valley rival would pay off in the long run.

lannon harley/The Acorn

"In some ways this was okay," he said. "We need to be prepared for CIF and we need a little bit of a test and a little bit of a challenge."

Westlake had to fight back from a 1-0 deficit after falling behind early in the first half. As has been the case all year, the Warriors didn’t stay behind for long as Caity Stevens scored to even the score before the teams broke for halftime.

Playing without injured Sara Silver-Hill and Kim Lorier, Marino said he was satisfied with his team’s effort.

"They absolutely played their hearts out," he said. "We left everything out on the field and I one-hundred-percent respect that."