Playing with extra emotional intensity, Westmont Men's Soccer opened Golden State Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 win over the Lancers of California Baptist (1-2-3, 0-1 GSAC). The Warriors (3-2, 1-0 GSAC) scored two goals in the seventh minute of play to take control of the game early on.
"I thought it was almost an odd happening," said Westmont Head Coach Dave Wolf. "Bang, bang and it's 2-0. It really does change the game a lot. It puts them in chase mode and us in protection mode. There were some long stretches where they were on us and in control of the game. I thought we weathered storms at various points in the evening and then got out from time to time."
Westmont senior midfielder Hugo Pizano scored the first goal from the right side. Junior forward Daniel Torres made a short pass of a corner kick to Pizano. Pizano shot the ball from 15 yards out and snuck it behind both the Lancer defenders and keeper Jeff Redinger.
The second goal came just 42 seconds later. Senior defender Justin Miller blistered a shot from 25 yards out on the right side that was blocked by Redinger. But the rebounded ball found sophomore midfielder Daniel Guzman in front of the goal. Guzman fired from 10 yards out and hit the back of the net as Redinger was picking himself up from the previous shot.
The Warriors' third goal did not come until the eighty-fifth minute. A pass from Guzman set up Torres from 13 yards out. Torres evaded a defender and then found the right side of the net to give the Warriors the 3-0 advantage.
"The thing that feels the best is that Daniel Torres got on the score sheet tonight," said Wolf. "He has really played very, very well for us. Having been away from college soccer for a year, I was a little bit concerned how that would go. He has been terrific. He helps our team play stylistically the way I want us to play. He had nearly half of our shots and getting the goal was a great moment for him, especially having played at (Santa Barbara) City College and being a local. I'm very happy for him because he was real quality in the game. As he gets better, that will expand our scope a lot."
Torres took seven of the Warriors' 15 shots and put six of his attempts on frame. Collectively, the Warriors had 11 shots on goal.
Freshman keeper Matthew McNab produced nine saves in his first collegiate shutout. The keeper was hit in the head with a ball during warm-up and spent several minutes with Athletic Trainer Jenna Melina before being cleared to play.
Absent from the game was Westmont sophomore midfielder Ben Gordon.
"Ben came to me mid-week when he learned about the death of his high school coach in Sedona, Arizona," said Wolf. "What we learned later is that both the coach and his wife died under tragic circumstances. The guys were real emotional on his behalf, both in the pre-game and the post-game. They wanted to get one for Ben."
Gordon is expected to return to school and to the team this week.
The Warriors will take their 1-0 GSAC record to San Diego Christian next Saturday for a three o'clock match-up with the Hawks.
