Warriors get revenge against the Lancers

OMRI WAISMAN/The Acorn TAKING POSSESSION--Westlake's Ashley Jones takes control of the ball as Carly Escoto of Thousand Oaks tries to run her down during last week's game at T.O. Westlake prevailed, 4-0.

The Westlake girls’ soccer team beat Thousand Oaks, 4-0, to avenge an early league-season loss of 3-2 and keep the Warriors in the driver’s seat for a Marmonte League championship.

"I think the first time they just wanted it more," said Ashley Jones, who scored the first goal this time for Westlake. "We came out focused and played strong and wanted it. We were a totally, completely different team. Our lineup is different, our attitude is different—we came out to win."

Westlake led 1-0 at halftime, but they also had led 1-0 at halftime when T.O. had beaten them on Jan. 10. This time, though, the Warriors stayed sharp in the second half and scored three more unanswered goals, one each by Kylie McDonald and Kiley Kemp, both freshmen, and Nicole Remmenga, a senior.

"Our freshmen have been playing amazing," Remmenga said. "They’ve been playing with a lot of heart and confidence and that’s helped us a lot. Lately our defense hasn’t given up any goals and our offense has been finishing our chances. If we play with the intensity we had today, we should win league."

Last year, Westlake won a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship while going unbeaten with only one tie. But that team graduated several key seniors.

"Last year’s team was solid because the seniors kind of took over and they’d been there for a long time," said junior Michelle Kananma. "This year, we’ve got a lot of new freshmen and we’re trying a new lineup. It’s totally different."

One of those freshmen, Kate Edwards, said Westlake was a different team from the one that lost to the Lancers back in January.

"We played more as a team and we were really pumped up for this game," Edwards said. "They proved to us that they could beat us. This time we said, ‘We can do this. Let’s play together as a team and just do it,’ and prove to them that it’s going to be our season."

Jones will be playing at Notre Dame next year. She said because of the Warriors’ youth, it’s taken awhile for this year’s team to coalesce.

"That’s one reason it kind of took us a while to get going," Jones said. "Because we’re young and you need experience to be a great team, and we definitely were lacking in that in the beginning of the season, and I think we’re gaining it more and more as the season goes on."

The win over the Lancers improved Westlake to 10-1-2 overall and 6-1-1 in league and dropped T.O. to 7-3-4 overall and 3-1-4 in league.

Westlake head coach Frank Marino noted the difference in his team from the first encounter with Thousand Oaks.

"The last game they played with great intensity and they wanted the game more than we did," said Marino. "Today, we came out with intensity, we wanted the game, we played physically and we put a lot of pressure on them early and that set the tone—I think that was huge."

The Warriors had revenge on their minds since losing on Jan. 10.

"This was something they wanted badly," Marino said. "From the day we lost that game, this has been on the calendar. We were up for this one."

Marino said Jones and Remmenga have been providing veteran leadership.

"They’re great leaders and they’re great examples for the young ones," he said. "You can see them helping coach players on the field, doing the things that help younger players get better. They’ve shown the younger players how much pride this program has."

Ashley Cooper, the first-year Lancer head coach, said Westlake earned the victory.

"They were on us, over and over, anytime there was a ball there were two or three Westlake players," said Cooper. "They were determined and they wanted this game. Tonight they were the stronger team."

Cooper added, "I know they had something to prove, just like we had something to prove to them in the first game. I give them credit for making adjustments and coming out and playing strong."

Marino was pleased with the results.

"Today we grew," he said. "We matured a lot together. We came out loose and we came ready to play and it made a huge difference."