By: Zach DeMarcus
September 8, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) #23 Westmont Men's Soccer (3-2-1) continued to groom their offense as they took down #17 Corban (Ore.) (3-1) 3-1 this afternoon. Lucky Puengrod scored his third goal of the season and added an assist in the victory.
 
Westmont struck first in the 13th minute. A Corban defender attempted to head the ball out of the box. The ball was cleared to just outside the goalie box where Puengrod fired a 20-yard volley that rose over the keeper's head and dipped beautifully into the net to give Westmont the early lead.
 
Westmont head coach Dave Wolf said, "That goal – not only was it an amazing ball strike, but it was very much against the run of the play up until that point. I give Jeremiah Anderson a lot of credit for the way that he competed on the back post on the corner. He kept the ball live.
 
"That's just Lucky's talent. We knew he had that, but we're starting to see it. On both sides of the ball, I thought he was great today. It was a complete performance by him, and that was a really special moment," noted Wolf.
 
Corban's offense was pushing Westmont out of the gate. There were a few moments where Westmont's defense went into survival mode. "I would say it was a performance of extremes. I thought when we were good – we were really good, but we wobbled some too. We definitely struggled out of the gate, and Corban was really good to start," added Wolf.
 
Westmont was able to push past the Corban attacks and add another goal in the 18th minute. Gabe McEwen passed the ball to Puengrod who executed a beautiful chip-pass to a cutting Anderson. Corban's keeper elected to charge the ball, but Anderson beat him to it and one-touched the ball past the keeper from three yards outside of the goal box. The ball then rolled all the way home into the empty net.
 
Corban would cut the deficit in half before the end of the first period. After Westmont was unable to clear the ball, Levan Zhividze got a shot off on a loose ball stuck in a cluster of Westmont and Corban players in the 35th minute. The ball found the back of the net to bring the score to 2-1.
 
"The result as a stand-alone is an excellent result for us against a very good team. That part of it is a real positive for our program. Corban is a very good team and they are very well coached. Aaron Lewis is a fantastic coach – I think one of the best in college soccer," added Wolf
 
Westmont put the game away in the 82nd minute as Gabe Thurner stepped up to take their ninth corner kick of the afternoon. His service found the head of Christian Webb who headed it in to ice the game at its final score of 3-1.
 
Wolf said, "That was a huge moment. It gave us enough of a cushion that we could defend deep a little bit more calmly. I thought we did a decent job of seeing out the game in the last 10 minutes or so once we went up two goals."
 
Westmont found the back of the net seven times this week and only conceded one goal. Of the offensive surge Wolf said, "We have a center forward who is playing very well in Gabe McEwen. He's playing very well in a way that we need him to play for our team.
 
Also, we have dynamic wingers – especially in Christian and Jerry. One-versus-one they are hard to stop. You saw Owen Bates give a little indicator of what he's capable of as well. I think we're starting to sync up there a little bit. I still don't think we've found our best lineup, but today took us a step in the right direction."
 
Senior captain Tim Heiduk returned to the back line after a missing the past few games due to injury. "Great to have Timmy back," noted Wolf. "KC Smith continues to play with maturity beyond his years. He continues to handle his assignments really well."
 
With the addition of Heiduk to the backline, Zach Godeck missed time this week due to illness leaving some uncertainty. Wolf said, "I was very anxious about what was happening in our center backs. I'm glad to have survived it."
 
Westmont will return to the field on Tuesday as they travel to Lancaster to face the Pioneers of Antelope Valley. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.