Harvard-Westlake Sloshes Past Marlborough in Girls’ Soccer

It was a day ill-suited for soccer, but the Harvard-Westlake High girls’ team didn’t let the rain or the quagmire of a home field get in the way of a 2-0 Sunshine League win over Marlborough on Thursday.

Liz Daniels scored on a pass from Alyze Lowen 17 minutes into the game and Stacy Schwartz finished off a rebound from a shot by Lindsay Powers in the 63rd minute to give the Wolverines (11-0-4, 3-0-3 in league play) the upper hand in the first-place showdown.

Westlake goalkeeper Cari Schwartz relied on a stout defensive performance to pick up her eighth shutout of the season for the Wolverines, ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section 1-A Division.

“We played a super game, under conditions where we had to come through,” Westlake Coach Mike Osborne said.

Marlborough, ranked eighth in the 1-A, came into the contest needing a win to wrap up the league title. But the Mustangs (8-2-1, 4-1-1), who played Westlake to a 1-1 tie at home last month, failed to generate any offense. As a result, the Wolverines forged a tie for first heading into the final week of regular-season play.

Westlake’s defense, led by stopper Hillary Gross and fullback Cameron Anderson, kept the Wolverine penalty area free of activity throughout most of the first half.

Lowen, a member of the U.S. under-17 national team, was tightly marked throughout the contest, but she managed to set up Westlake’s first goal when she sent a long lead pass to Daniels along the left wing. Daniels got to the ball ahead of a Marlborough defender when the ball rolled to a stop in a mud puddle, allowing Daniels to hammer it into the net at the far post for her eighth goal. “We got a little luck from the puddle,” Osborne said.

Westlake has struggled to maintain intensity in the second half on several occasions this season. But freshman forward Stacy Schwartz made sure that didn’t happen again Thursday.

Her nifty footwork on the waterlogged field set up several scoring opportunities for the Wolverines in the final 40 minutes and her hustle was finally rewarded with her 10th goal.