By Jarred Davis
October 27, 2018
 
(PHOENIX, Ariz.) Westmont Men's Soccer (9-5-2, 5-3 GSAC) finished off the Golden State Athletic Conference regular season and a two-game road trip with handing the Firestorm of Arizona Christian (12-4-2, 5-2-1 GSAC) a 4-2 loss on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Warriors locked up the fifth seed in the GSAC Tournament and will travel to Atherton, California next week to take on fourth seeded Menlo College on Friday, November 3 at noon.
 
"We were under significant pressure over different periods of the game," said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf.
 
"We took our chances well. We played some good football at times and I thought the spirit of the team was good today. It was a really good way to end the regular season for sure."
 
The Firestorm ultimately outshot Westmont (13-7) with shots on goal, but it was the Warriors who took advantage of opportunities when they mattered most.
 
"I think we went through a period where the guys really kind of sharpened up a little bit," added Wolf on his team's performance. 
 
The Warriors took a 2-0 lead into half time and extended their advantage to 3-0 in the second half before the Firestorm got on the board.
 
Senior Tim Heiduk scored the first goal for the Warriors in the 16th minute.
 
"The first goal that [Tim] Heiduk scored was very much against the run of play," said Wolf.
 
"They were all over us and kind of in our third of the field. The first time we broke we scored and then we got sharper.

Just two minutes' shy of halftime, Sean Nakaoka scored Westmont's second goal, giving them a great amount of momentum heading into the break.
 
"The second goal was a really terrific ball strike, left footed conversion by [Sean] Nakaoka, it was really just a suburb goal," added Wolf.
 
In the 54th minute, Lucky Puengrod dribbled past a defender and was able to create some space five-yards away from the goal, where he then put it away from there for his fifth of the season.
 
However, up 3-0, Arizona Christian refused to go away quietly and scored two goals within six minutes of each other.
 
One came in the 66th minute by Alex Segura and the other came at 72nd minute of the game by Stefan Tomasevic.
 
Although the Warriors felt the pressure late, Sam Tuscano gave Westmont a commanding 4-2 advantage, after he found the back of the net in the 88th minute.
 
"I think that in the important moments of the game, we were able to take our chances that led to the result," said Wolf. 
 
Gearing towards next week, the winner between the Warriors and Oaks of Menlo College will play in the GSAC tournament semifinals at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California, Thursday November 8 with a time still to be decided.