By Zach DeMarcus
September 15, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) #18 Westmont Men's Soccer (4-2-2) battled their long-time Gold State Athletic Conference opponent Azusa Pacific (3-1-1) this afternoon. Lucky Puengrod scored the equalizer for the Warriors in the 74th minute, as the Warriors and the Cougars went on to tie 1-1 in double-overtime.
 
This was the 50^th meeting all-time between the two programs. With today's tie, Westmont continues to hold the overall advantage with a record of 30-15-5 against the Cougars.
 
Westmont head coach Dave Wolf said, "I think we played a really good team today. If they were in the NAIA, they would be in the top-10 with aspirations to win a national championship. A point against that team for us is probably a pretty good result."
 
Both teams came out of the gate fast and crisp. The Warriors had an opportunity to strike first in the first minute of the game. Jeremiah Anderson was slipped a through ball and had an open look at goal, but ran out of room to get the shot off.
 
"We had a couple really nice spells of moving the ball. That was great to see," noted Wolf. "It's one thing to do that in training and it's something to do it against a team of that quality. That was a really big positive."
 
In the 18th minute, Azusa Pacific's Gabriel Costa took a touch to his right and ripped a ball from 25 yards out that nailed the crossbar.
 
Costa ended up connected for the Cougars in the 53rd minute. Gregoire Diep stole the ball from a Westmont defender and sent the ball into the box for Costa. Costa then eluded two defenders before firing a shot past Lalo Delgado to give Azusa Pacific the lead.
 
The Warriors got off 11 shots on the day – four of which were on goal. None was bigger than the game tying shot by Puengrod in the 74th minute.
 
An Azusa Pacific defender was slow getting rid of the ball as Puengrod came flying in to intercept the pass. He stole the ball from 25 yards out, dribbled quickly into the box and fired from 15 yards out past the keeper to tie the game.
 
"We've seen Lucky really working on both sides of the ball. He makes and takes that goal all by himself. You have to put that one down to a combination of his effort and his quality – it's as simple as that," commented Wolf.
 
At the end of regulation, the score remained tied at one. The first overtime period came and went without much danger for either team. In the second overtime period, Azusa Pacific got two shots off on target, but Delgado was equal to the test making two saves – he finished with five on the game.
 
Owen Bates created an opportunity in the second overtime for the Warriors. Christian Webb played him the ball right at midfield. Bates turned and made a nice 45 yard run to goal. The Cougar keeper was met him at the top of the box to evade the threat.
 
"Right now Owen is making a case for himself," said Wolf. "He's three games on the trot right now, Corban, Antelope Valley, and now we have Azusa Pacific. He's had impacts in all of those games. He's earned himself more looks and consideration.
 
"I think Sam Tuscano is in there as well. Those guys have been real patient. We really liked them as attacking players in the recruiting process. Owen's done really well and we need to keep looking at him as a result."
 
The Cougars made one last push in the 110th minute that nearly sealed the victory for them. Diep created some space for himself from 20 yards out before hammering a ball that hit the left post and bounced back into play. Azusa Pacific was then called for being offside, and that brought an end to the double-overtime drama.
 
Wolf of his defense, "I don't think that a lot of teams are going to keep Azusa Pacific to one goal. We had to make some plays, and Lalo made the big save in the second overtime. Having Timmy (Heiduk) back is huge. I thought the two center guys and the goalkeeping was really solid."
 
The Warriors will name have some time off before heading into GSAC play. They will travel up to Cal Poly to play a scrimmage with the Big-West powerhouse next weekend, but won't play a countable game until their GSAC opener on September 27 against William Jessup.
 
"We've had a brutal non-conference schedule. We've played a lot of tough games already this year and we're going to get a little bit of a break now. We're 4-2-2 through the gauntlet. I'm proud of them for having gotten through that," noted Wolf.
 
The Warriors have had a number of experiences already this season. Wolf said, "I think the challenge is answering the question of what have we learned from those experiences and how do those become a part of our identity moving forward? I think we need to take all of this information and synthesize it down to three things on each side of the ball so that there's an approach moving forward."
 
Westmont will look to make those changes as they look to be contenders in GSAC play. The September 27 game against William Jessup is set for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.