By Zach DeMarcus
September 23, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Soccer (2-2-3, 1-1 GSAC) lost their Golden State Athletic Conference game against the visiting Menlo Oaks (5-3-1, 1-1) by a score of 1-0 this afternoon.
 
Westmont head coach Dave Wolf said, "Number one, I don't think we deserved to win the game today. I thought we were a little sloppy."
 
Today's game was a physical one from start to finish. Wolf said, "It was a pretty direct game from Menlo – which creates a lot of clashes, duels, and confrontation. I thought they were better in the one-on-one duels than we were. I think that's what won them the game."
 
Menlo threatened in the 17^th minute when a shot by Franco Varga banged off the left post.
 
Westmont created a decent chance in the 26^th minute when Collin Scott took a free kick and found the head of Blake Homan. Homan headed the ball on target, but right at Menlo's keeper Julio Naranjo who made the save.
 
The first half finished with a level score as neither side conceded a goal.
 
The Oaks scored, what turned out to be, the deciding goal of the contest in the 48^th minute. Menlo's Ryan Branigan had the ball on the left side, outside the 18-yard box. He then crossed the ball to the foot of Fernando Menera, who finished the ball passed Lalo Delgado to give Menlo the 1-0 advantage.
 
The rest of the game proved to be visibly frustrating to the Warrior players. Wolf said, "I thought we were emotionally immature team today." Wolf was referencing multiple confrontations between his players and the officials throughout the game.
 
Westmont came within inches of equaling the score in the 82^nd minute when Delgado took a free kick from midfield. He served it into the box where Heiduk headed the ball to Blake Homan. Homan then headed the ball towards Tyler Young in the six-yard box, where a Menlo defender headed the ball backwards nearly scoring an own goal. Menlo defender Jose Fimbres headed the ball up and off the crossbar, preserving Menlo's 1-0 lead.
 
Westmont finished with two yellow cards and one straight red. The red was given to Tim Heiduk in the 87^th minute. Heiduk was given the card after going for a loose ball in the box and making contact with the keeper.
 
Wolf said in regards to calls throughout the game, "I think there were times where the focus of our efforts was in the direction of the officials today, not in the direction of solving the problems of the game."
 
Delgado made a fantastic save in the 89^th minute to keep the score within reach. Menlo had a two-on-one break away that forced Delgado to come out of the box and slide to make the save off of Eric Hegmann's shot.
 
The Warriors couldn't muster up another attack, and the game ended with the final score of 1-0.
 
Westmont hits the road next week with a trip to Arizona Christian on Thursday. That game is set for 7:30 p.m. The Warriors then play at San Diego Christian Saturday at 3:30 p.m.