LOS ANGELES – Jennesa Groves and Callan Harrington scored to give the Lions a 2-1 victory over San Francisco on Wednesday night in a match that puts the Lions in the thick heat of the WCC Championship race.
Groves was on the scoreboard first in what is becoming a trademark poacher's effort for her. The move started with Megan Rucker flying up the left sideline, beating a defender and darting towards the endline. She slid a cross that went all the way through the box and was found by
Olivia Winter. Winter blasted a low shot through the web of people in the penalty area. The goalkeeper dove and palmed it away right into the path of Groves who was the first player to act and tapped in with another goal for her LMU account.
The Dons equalized in the second half but the Lions stepped up their efforts and got a game-winner from the hardworking Harrington with a little under ten minutes to play. Harrington received a pass from Rucker on the left side of the pitch. She laid the ball off to
Kylie Dobbs who slid the pass right back to Harrington streaking through the Dons' defense. Harrington took a dribble and slipped a shot through the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper into the corner and wheeled away in celebration.
The Lions were buoyed by another stellar performance from sophomore goalkeeper JJ Hoover. Hoover notched four saves and collected numerous dangerous crosses and passes. The highlight came in a one-on-one situation where she notched a save and then corralled the bouncing ball with her free hand to stave off the follow up opportunity.
Both Lions' full backs were unlucky to score.
Helen Schaefer rattled the crossbar with a long range effort early in the first half that would have opened the scoring if it were a fraction of an inch lower. Rucker was unlucky to score from her long-distance shot when the goalkeeper got fingertips to her shot to push it onto the crossbar and out for a corner kick.
With the season finale on Saturday, the Lions are a single point behind Santa Clara and Pepperdine. The No. 22 Waves host San Francisco and No. 11 Santa Clara face off against Saint Mary's. If both teams drop points and the Lions defeat Gonzaga, the Lions will be the WCC Champions for the first time in school history.
The Lions will host the Bulldogs on Saturday night at Sullivan Field. The match will commence at 7:00 p.m. (PT) and it will be broadcast on ESPN+. After the match, the Lions will honor the nine seniors for their service to the LMU soccer program.
