Westmont Men's Soccer, ranked at number 23 in the NAIA, defeated the Cougars of San Marcos (3-5-1) by a score of 1-0 at Russ Carr Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors, who improved to 3-2 on the year, won on an own goal with just 3:21 remaining on the second half clock.
The goal came when Sammy Montemer drove the baseline for the Warriors and crossed the ball to Jon Schoff. A Cougar defender attempted to clear the pass but instead redirected the ball into the net.
Westmont head coach Dave Wolf used the depth of the Warrior bench to his advantage in the fast-paced game.
"I thought the game was played at a high tempo," said Wolf. "Part of that was their style and part of that was the fact that we can keep fresh players in the game. The goal was a bit of an example of our depth. Hugo (Pizano) found a little time on the ball which really he hadn't had earlier. But he did in that moment and he played a nice through ball to Monte (Sammy Montemer). Even though Monte stumbled a little bit initially, they weren't close enough to win it. And so Monte gets up and sneaks by. I think our depth shows up in those inches which it buys over the balance of 90 minutes."
The Warriors put 18 men on the field in today's contest and tallied 210 minutes of playing time from bench personnel.
"There were two guys who came off the bench who were very important today," noted Wolf. "Henry (Sarmiento) was one. We all know Henry is going to be some kind of player. The question is just the timing of it and when we'll make that declaration. He played great today.
"And then I thought Anthony Strunz came in and did terrific job," continued Wolf. "At halftime we told him we needed him to come in and compete in the air against their number 10 (Greg Reese). A lot of what we generated in the second half was because of battles he was winning in the center midfield."
The Warriors got off only one shot in the first half but fired off eight in the second period.
Westmont will begin Golden State Athletic Conference play on Saturday when they host Vanguard (2-3-1) as part of a men's and women's doubleheader at Russ Carr Field. The men's game will kick off at one o'clock with the women scheduled to begin at three.
