By: Zach DeMarcus
September 11, 2018
 
(LANCASTER, Calif.) It took 83 minutes for the Warrior offense to come alive, but once it did it didn't hold back. #18 Westmont Men's Soccer (4-2-1) was being shutout and down two goals against Antelope Valley (0-5) before scoring three in one minute and 56 seconds down the stretch.
 
Westmont head coach Dave Wolf said, "We really struggled today. We didn't pass the ball well. We were just all out of sorts. Then the last five minutes we draw a penalty kick and all of a sudden the switch got flipped and off we went."
 
The Pioneers survived nine Warrior shots in the first half – five of which were on goal. The Pioneers were only able to get two shots off, however, both found the back of the net.
 
"We had three very good looks at goal inside the first 10 minutes and we did not take any of those chances. The previous games we were converting one of those, getting out on top and having the ability to control the game a little bit. We never had that today," noted Wolf.
 
Antelope Valley's first goal came in the 19th minute. Manuel Medina shot a ball to the bottom-left corner of the goal and was assisted by Kevin Martinez. The second came just three minutes later in the 22nd minute. Ruben Reynoso beat Andres Quiros, who got his first start and win of the season between the posts, on a one-on-one. Reynoso was assisted by Sanson Lopez.
 
Westmont's offense continued to get shots off in the second half, but continued to struggle converting on any of them – until the 84th minute.
 
The Warriors drew a penalty kick and Christian Webb stepped up to take the free chance. He hammered the ball home for his third goal of the season – bringing life back to Westmont's offense. 
 
Westmont struck again just 23 seconds later in the 85th minute. "Owen Bates beat a couple guys out wide, swatted a perfect ball across the mouth of the goal and Jerry (Anderson) ended up finishing it," described Wolf.
 
"If I had to give credit to one guy for changing the game for us today it would be Owen Bates. He came on and he did some terrific things. He just made a superb solo effort on the dribble to set up Jerry for the second goal," noted Wolf. "Jonah Romero came off the bench and played pretty good for us today as well."
 
The game-winning goal came again off the foot of Anderson in the 86th minute. "The third goal was gorgeous. It only took us 86 minutes to put together a decent passing sequence, but when we did it was something to behold. We came right down the gut. When that ball went in the goal I could hardly believe what I was seeing," recalled Wolf.
 
In all, the Warriors scored three goals in a matter of just one minute and 56 seconds to salvage the victory and extend their winning streak to three. Westmont is 4-0-1 in their last five contests.
 
Westmont returns to the pitch this Saturday as the men and women host Azusa Pacific for a doubleheader. The women kickoff at 1:30 p.m. and the men are set for 4:00 p.m.