Though the Saturday sky was overcast, the Westmont Men's Soccer team injected rays of light into their season with a 3-0 victory over the Wheaton (Ill.) Thunder, getting in the win column for the first time this season. A relieved Dave Wolf commented, "It's been a real grind for us here, and regardless of what happened between the white lines, the fact that we won a game means a lot, and you can obviously see it with [the team] right now. I don't know that it's the time to be too analytical about it—it's a win, and it's important for us."
Senior forward Doug Harrell got things started for the Warriors in spectacular fashion in the thirteenth minute. On a free kick spotted just a few yards outside the box, Will Bobo tapped the ball to Harrell, who immediately launched it to the far post, top shelf, never giving Thunder goalkeeper Ryan Seager a chance.
"We actually spent a good bit of time this week, both Dougie and Will, orchestrating that little combination," revealed Wolf. "Dougie hit a couple like that during the week, but that one was just—I saw one just like that two weeks ago, and it was Wayne Rooney against Arsenal; that was the quality of that free kick, So that was very impressive, and you chalk that down to a talented player doing something very special."
The entire game was marked by physical play, and in the sixteenth minute a scuffle broke out. Players from both teams converged, but cooler heads prevailed before further escalation. The contentious play continued, though, with the two teams combining for 41 fouls, 22 of them coming in the first half alone.
Westmont, and more specifically, Doug Harrell, struck again in the twenty-first minute. The Thunder defense failed to clear the ball on a corner kick by Westmont's Nana Akyen, allowing Harrell to score an acrobatic goal off of a header from fellow senior Henry Sarmiento, putting the Warriors up 2-0.
Wheaton opened the second half with a furious offensive charge, getting off six shots in the first ten minutes. An unusual sequence of events was initiated in the fifty-fifth minute when Westmont's Jordan Correa was fouled in the box. Harrell lined up for the penalty kick, with a high percentage opportunity at a hat trick. However, Harrell's shot was easily saved by Yeager. Less than a minute later, Westmont committed a foul in their box, and Wheaton forward Drew Golz had the chance to pull the Thunder to within one goal. Although Westmont goalkeeper Andrew Singer guessed the wrong way, Golz's shot hit the far left post, resulting in two missed penalty kicks within the span of one minute.
"We really weathered a storm in the first ten minutes of the second half," commented Wolf. "Obviously things got a little bit crazy there with two penalty kicks, and 'who'dathunk that.' To get through that without conceding [a point] was pivotal."
Despite Westmont's two-goal lead, the intensity of the game did not subside until midfielder Daniel Guzman put Wheaton away in the eighty-ninth minute. The Thunder defense broke down, and Guzman was given plenty of time to setup and get a clear shot at the goal from 10 yards out.
Westmont, which is sometimes referred to as the "Wheaton of the west", is now 3-0 all-time against their mid-western counterparts. Though Saturday was only the third meeting between the men's soccer teams of these two colleges, the history between Westmont and Wheaton soccer runs deep. Wheaton is Westmont head coach Dave Wolf's alma mater, and both he and his wife are members of the Wheaton Athletics Hall of Fame. Additionally, Dave Wolf's father was a religious studies professor at Wheaton for nearly 40 years.
"There's a lot of emotion in this game," Wolf said. "I had an amazing experience at Wheaton, and I'm very, very fond of Coach Giuliano. He's a close friend of mine. I told him before the game I'll be glad when this is over. I'm glad we can now focus on the start of GSAC play."
The Westmont-Wheaton soccer connection goes further than Wolf: Wheaton head coach Mike Giuliano was the Westmont Women's Soccer head coach for 11 years from 1993-2003. Furthermore, he taught in the Communication Studies department while at Westmont.
In his tenure as the women's head coach at Westmont, Giuliano led the Warriors to four NAIA National Championships (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003). One of Giuliano's players from 2001 to 2003 was current Westmont Women's Soccer head coach Kristi Kiely.
"It's great to be back," Giuliano said on his return to Westmont. "I wish we'd played a little better, but give Westmont credit, they played like a desperate team, and they deserved to win."
Reflecting on the transition from Westmont to Wheaton, Giulianosaid, "My passions lie in places like [Westmont] and places like Wheaton, and to get to take over that program and hopefully one day start to grow it where it belongs is what I want to do. So, it was a somewhat easy transition to go back. The weather wasn't easy, but everything else was fine."
The Warriors next action comes on the road against Hope International next Saturday, October 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
