The 50th Annual Bryant and Sons Cup proved to be entertaining exhibition game between Westmont men's soccer and NCAA Division I UC Santa Barbara, which is ranked at number 11. The Warriors held the Gauchos scoreless for the first 43 minutes of play before Goffin Boyoko gave UCSB a 1-0 lead on a goal scored from the top of the box.
"We stayed in the game longer than we did last year and that was a positive," said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. "I thought we had worked real hard to keep the game level so it was a difficult way to go into halftime. Then I think superior numbers and ability and lots of ability began to take its hold."
The Gauchos posted second half goals by Achille Campion in the seventieth minute and Dom Sarle in the seventhy-seventh minute.
"I thought some of our passing sequences were actually quite good," said Wolf. "Even when they backed us down a little bit, I thought defensively we stayed calm and were able to weather the storm. I thought (goalkeeper) Matt (McNab) was very solid in the goal. We have a little bit of a make-shift back four right now and I thought they held up very well.
McNab tallied six saves against the Gaucho offense which fired off 20 shots.
Offensively, the Warriors had several chances on the offensive end in the first half. Nana Akyen launched three shots from the top of the box but all were off target. A header by Cody Howen proved to be the Warriors best chance to score, but was saved by Andre Grandt.
"I thought Sean Siemens was really good tonight in the middle field," said Wolf. "Gerald (Ben) showed some of his individual capabilities and I also thought he played for the team, which I was really pleased with."
After 50 meetings, Westmont and UC Santa Barbara have tied up the Bryan and Sons Cup with 23 wins each and four ties.
The Warriors will travel to Azusa Pacific for a scrimmage on Thursday. Westmont will open at home with a non-conference game against Marymount on Friday, August 31.
