By Rob Goodrow
October 12, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The NAIA #4 ranked Westmont Men's Soccer team (9-1, 3-0 GSAC) blanked the Vanguard Lions (7-4, 2-1 GSAC) while scoring three times in the first half to remain unbeaten in conference play. It was the Warriors' first home victory over Vanguard since 2013.
 
"Vanguard has had our number for a while now and there was going to be a psychological barrier to have to deal with," noted Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. "The big takeaway for me is that we were a team that capitalized on the opponent's mistakes. That was the story today, when a couple of errors got made by them, we were ruthless in converting those into scores."
 
The Warriors scored their first goal in the 13th minute after a series of deflections off both team's players that eventually landed the ball at the foot of Samuel Tuscano. His ensuing shot bounced off a defender and redirected the ball into the net for a 1-0 Westmont lead.
 
"The quality in the first goal was Christian Webb's service. Sam Tuscano got to it and he deserves credit for getting a foot on it," explained Wolf. "It was some fortune, though, that last deflection."
 
The Warriors continued to hold a strong backline despite the Lions outshooting them over a nearly half-hour stretch. In the 41st minute Westmont was finally able to double their lead when Vanguard failed to clear a ball in the Warrior half. Midfielder Jona Romero collected it and found Owen Bates and the sophomore from Santa Barbara blasted one into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
 
Twenty-three seconds later, senior Lucky Puengrod scored on a nifty dribble move in front of the box and banged home a shot to give the Warriors a three-score advantage.
 
"Owen has been dangerous before this but he just hasn't been able to score, so it was good to see him get a goal," said Wolf. "Lucky had a good week of training, he showed a high level of determination and he was clinical on that goal today. Not many guys can make the move he made to score that shot."
 
With a 3-0 lead, the Warriors hunkered down for the final forty-five minutes, keeping Vanguard from scoring and chalking up their sixth shutout of the season.
 
"(Outside back) Wyatt Babineau was fantastic in the second half after not playing in the first half," continued Wolf.  "The big thing for us has been (center back) Zach Godeck's maturity. Tim Heiduk and Lalo (Edward "Lalo" Delgado) have been great players for a long time. They're continuing to have good seasons and we don't minimize that, but now Zach is playing at a different level and that protects those guys. He has relieved them of some of the workload. He makes us really tough defensively."
 
While the Warriors were bolstered Saturday by their deep defense and ability to capitalize on mistakes by their opponent, Wolf admitted that his team continues to count on their depth of personnel.
 
"It's undeniable that our depth has contributed greatly to our success. Add Jose Vasquez to the list of players who came in off the bench to give us what we needed today. Two of those guys (Puengrod and Bates) scored goals. Maybe we had the right group in there to push Vanguard to do things today they don't normally try and do."
 
The Warriors remain at home for a game this Wednesday, Oct. 16, versus Hope International. Kick-off is at 12:30 p.m. on Thorrington Field.