By Jarred Davis
November 8, 2018
 
(IRVINE, Calif.) In a nail-bitter that saw two teams fight until the end in intense wind conditions, Westmont Men's Soccer (10-6-2) fell just short to Vanguard (11-3-2) 2-1, in the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals Thursday evening.
 
"I'm just so proud of the group and the year that they had," said Westmont coach Dave Wolf.
 
"It's disappointing to not go further with them. Anytime your season comes to an end it's a hard moment and I believe we really gave a great effort."
 
Tyler Young gave the Warriors life and scored the first goal of the game in the 23rd minute.
 
Young dribbled past a defender and fired in a shot eight yards away and connected with the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
 
However, in the second half, the wind picked up and made goal kicks extremely difficult for Westmont.
 
"Obviously, the conditions were unlike any we've played in all year," said Wolf.
 
"The second half was very difficult for us. I think probably you have to give them credit for maybe coping against the wind better than we did. They only conceded one against us and we conceded two against them."
 
In the 83rd minute, Archie Lopez served the ball to Joel Berry in the middle of the field, allowing Berry to convert the tying goal with seven minutes remaining in the game.
 
Then with just five seconds remaining, Berry bent the ball into the far left corner and gave the Lions an insane 2-1 victory over the Warriors. 
 
On a hard fight effort, this was the final game for seven Warrior seniors. "They're a really terrific group," added Wolf.
 
"One of the things that I've said to them on a couple of occasions this year was that they're really the group that got us back to winning. They're the group that helped us break back through, in terms of some trophies and championships. So, they will definitely be remembered for that and they'll be remembered for a lot of other things as well."
 
The Warriors concluded the 2018 season with a record of 10-6-2.