By Ron Smith
October 26, 2019­­­­­
 
(El CAJON, Calif.) Westmont Men's Soccer (11-1-1, 5-0-1 GSAC), ranked fourth in the NAIA, extended its unbeaten streak to six in a row with a 2-0 victory over the Hawks of San Diego Christian in today's Golden State Athletic Conference contest. The game marked the eighth Warrior shutout this season.
 
The game was played at Grossmont Community College – a new venue for the Warriors.
 
"It was a turf field that was a bit narrow," reported head coach Dave Wolf. "We had to figure out a way to move the ball quick enough to get out into some open spaces. I thought we were able to solve it enough to win the game.
 
"It was a tricky game for a number of different reasons. The conditions where challenging in the sense that it was warm day and it was windy. The wind was more of a factor than we anticipated at the beginning of the match."
 
The field and conditions undoubtedly contributed to a scoreless halftime tie, but Wolf attributed at least part of the offensive struggle to a more concerning factor.
 
"I thought we were a little bit soft in the first half of the game," assessed the coach. "I think that was both disappointing as well as uncharacteristic of this group. I think this group has been good mentally in terms of weathering circumstances, not letting things get to them, good body language – those kinds of things. I thought we were a little bit off kilter in the first half of the game.
 
"In the second half, I thought we were a little bit more stable. The goal that Tyler Young scored to get us on the board was the key moment of the game. Once that happened, I thought we settled nicely. We were fortunate to get the second, and we were able to see it out from there."
 
Young scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 63rd minute.
 
"A ball was played in the air to Tyler," described Wolf. "He laid it off with his head to Jona Romero. That was the critical moment in the build-up. Tyler went, Jona broke and slipped it in. Tyler finished with a left-footed shot from just inside the box. It was a tidy finish across his body into the far post."
 
The Warriors added some cushion in the 80th minute off the foot of Francisco "Panchito" Castro, his fourth goal of the season.
 
"Pancho got a service to the back post," conveyed Wolf. "Initially, I thought he had lost the chance, but he got the ball back on to his left foot and hit a ball into the top of the net to the goalkeeper's left. He beat him up high from near the penalty spot."
 
Catching the notice of the veteran coach, was the play of senior forward Christian Webb.
 
"I was really happy with Christian," noted Wolf. "He came off the bench for us today. I thought his mentality was really good. He did a little bit of leading and his work ethic was excellent. I was really pleased with him today."
 
Going into the final week of the regular season, and with two games to play, Westmont is in first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference with 16 points (three points for each win, one point for each tie). Vanguard (10-4, 5-1) is in second place with 15 points after surviving a 6-5, overtime barn-burner with OUAZ (Ariz.) (10-4-1, 2-3-1). Menlo (10-4, 4-2) and Hope International (12-4, 4-3) are tied for third place with 12 points.
 
Westmont will play its final two games at home, where it is undefeated (7-0). Thursday, the Warriors will host OUAZ at 3:15 p.m. Then on Saturday, Westmont will welcome Arizona Christian to Thorrington Field for a Senior Day game beginning at noon.