Tanner Wolf[/caption]

It took 89 minutes and 59 seconds to decide the Golden State Athletic Conference men's soccer game on Saturday at Thorrington Field.

Throughout the game, Westmont (7-9-1, 4-1-1 GSAC) pounded away, taking 25 shots including 11 that were on goal – but none found the net. Not until, literally, the last second of regulation.

With less than a minute to go, Westmont earned a corner kick. Junior Tanner Wolf sent the ball from the left corner toward the goal, but the Warriors couldn't get a shot off and Arizona Christian (3-9, 0-5 GSAC) successfully cleared the ball.

As the public address announcer counted down the final 10 seconds, the ball was bounding away from the goal.

Nine, eight, seven – with a foot planted on the midfield stripe, Kolby McInally served a pass into the box. It went untouched as it made its way to the left side of the goal. Six, five, four, three – the ball passed diagonally across the face of the goal while Tanner Wolf raced toward it.

Two – Wolf strikes the ball from four yards out. One – the ball passes to the keeper's left and into the side netting. Zero – dog pile.

"I thought the team played beautifully from minute one to minute 90," said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. "Ironically, it took us until the 90th minutes to get the reward for that."

"The boys did a great job getting the ball back in the box," said the younger Wolf, son of the coach. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

The Warriors' defense had kept them in the game long enough for the final heroics. The Firestorm were allowed just four shots. The only shot on goal was saved by freshman goalkeeper Spencer Petty who earned his first collegiate shutout.

"I thought we stayed disciplined the entire time," said the coach. "Our back four were rock solid. Spencer did a good job of organizing the defense. He is a really calm goalkeeper – very relaxed, very confident."

The goal by Wolf was his third of the season, and his second game winner.

"The boys had been patient all day," noted the goal scorer. "We kept playing our game. We defended well and in the end, we got what we deserved."

The Warriors will next play on Saturday, October 18 when they host Concordia (8-3, 4-1) on Homecoming. Kick-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

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