By Zach DeMarcus
October 5, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Soccer (5-2-3, 4-1 GSAC) finished off Hope International (8-2-2, 4-1 GSAC) with a game winning goal coming off the foot of Jeremiah Anderson in overtime. The final score was 2-1 in favor of the Warriors.
 
This afternoon's Golden State Athletic Conference match up looked to be entertaining as it brought together Hope International, who was tied for first, and Westmont, who was tied for third. The game lived up to its expectations as both teams fought hard throughout the 93 necessary minutes needed to determine a winner.
 
It was a physical game from start to finish. Westmont assistant coach Johnny Whallon said, "I think this group is ready for these games. It took a while, but they figured it out. I think they showed a lot of composure. It's not always going to look pretty. I was really proud of their resiliency just to fight through it."
 
The Warriors had a chance to take an early lead in the 20^th minute when Yazi Hernandez was fouled in the box resulting in a penalty kick. Hernandez took the kick, but Hope's keeper Ryan Brown was up to the task, diving to his right to stop the attack.
 
The first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
 
Westmont started the scoring in the 60^th minute when Jeremiah Anderson had the ball on the left side. He whipped in a cross finding Tyler Young who chested the ball into the back left side of the goal to put the Warriors up 1-0.
 
Anderson said, "I was just trying to put it in the box. I saw Panchito at the back post and I was trying to get it to him, but it came off my foot weird and it ended up going of Tyler's shoulder – I'll take it."
 
The lead didn't last long as Hope tied the game four minutes later. A ball was chipped in to Pedro Mendoza to the left of the goal, he then turned and fired a shot into the upper right corner for the equalizer.
 
Whallon said, "There were two situations where they could have gotten discouraged – one was on the missed PK and the other was when Hope tied it. Instead of letting down, I think they responded in a really good way."
 
At the end of regulation the score was tied 1-1.
 
It only took Westmont four extra minutes to throw the deciding blow and claim the victory. Anderson had the ball about 30 yards out, took a dribble and fired a shot off his left foot past Hope's diving keeper to the back of the net for the win.
 
Anderson had a shot with the same angle a few minutes earlier that went just wide. Anderson said, "Once I saw that come off my foot I was like, 'I'm just going to keep shooting. It's coming off my foot well right now.'" Then he said about the goal, "I just got some space and let one rip."
 
Whallon said, "Jerry's a marksman. The thing that I'm most pleased about Jerry today is that he didn't get discouraged when it wasn't going well – he stood with it. I think the key to the goal he scored was that about two minutes earlier he hit the same ball that went just wide. His confidence was up on that second chance.
 
"Limiting Hope to a goal is very important. One goal is a victory for our defense. The way the back four competed was excellent. They all played 93 minutes, so they earned it today, and Lalo was steady in goal. I think that's the biggest piece – we won a tight game at home and that gives us confidence moving forward with games to come."
 
Westmont soccer returns to Thorrington Field this Saturday for a doubleheader against Vanguard. The women kick off at 12:00 pm and the men follow at 2:30 pm.