By Jarred Davis
November 3, 2018
 
(ATHERTON, Calif.) After 45 minutes of scoreless play, Gabriel McEwen drilled a 10-yard shot four minutes into the second half, followed by Christian Webb finding the back of the net in the 76th minute to give Westmont (10-5-2) a 2-0 victory Saturday afternoon over Menlo College (12-6) in the GSAC Tournament quarterfinals.
 
"I thought the guys were really terrific all game long," said Westmont coach Dave Wolf.
 
"In the second half, I think it was largely a function of playing in a lot of tough games this year. We played a great schedule, a lot of tough games. You saw a team that's been there before. The stakes were definitely high today and these guys have worked extremely hard all season long."
 
On the first goal, Warriors goalkeeper Lalo Delgado sent the ball across the field with force, allowing McEwen to finish the play from there after he sent in a thunderous strike to give Westmont a 1-0 lead.
 
"[Gabe] McEwen has had a really good year and it got a lot better today," added Wolf.
 
"It's one thing to break through and score goals. It's something totally different to score goals in the playoffs. I think right now, that just puts a cap on what's been a great season for him and should give us great optimism going forward into the semifinals."
 
The Oaks ultimately outshot the Warriors (14-11) in the game, but it was Delgado who made play-after-play in the box to give Westmont the advantage with his six saves.
 
In the 61st minute, the Oaks were awarded a penalty kick after Westmont was called for a controversial penalty.
 
Jose Fimbres from Menlo looked to give the Oaks momentum with a golden opportunity to score, but Delgado made a diving safe to give the Warriors their sixth shutout of the season. 
 
"We got the penalty kick save and that was huge," said Wolf.
 
On the second goal, Tyler Young dribbled past defenders and ultimately footed the ball to Webb, as he simply lobbed in a crafty goal to give the Warriors a commanding 2-0 advantage.
 
"What a finish, that was a finish of the absolute highest quality" said Wolf.
 
For him to work that ball and shape it around the goalkeeper. When he first hit it I thought it was going wide and then it just curled back."
 
In other GSAC action today, Arizona Christian defeated William Jessup 5-0, setting up ACU to play The Master's Thursday November 8 at 4:00 p.m.
 
With the Warriors win, the Warriors advance to the semifinals game against Vanguard on Thursday in Irvine with a 6:30 p.m. kick-off.
 
"We have the utmost respect for them, they're the two-time defending champions," added Wolf on his upcoming matchup with Vanguard.
 
"But you know, we've built great momentum, won some games and put some shutouts together. The question I had about this team this year was really the question of could we put it all together at once. I think we did that today against a great opponent and we'll see another tough one next week."