By Ron Smith
November 2, 2019­­­­­
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) With a 5-1 win over Arizona Christian (6-9-3, 2-6) on the final day of the Golden State Athletic Conference regular season, #4 Westmont Men's Soccer (13-1-1) accomplished something that has not been done by the program in for 30 years. The Warriors went undefeated in conference play (7-0-1). The last Westmont Men's Soccer team to put up an undefeated record in GSAC games was the 1989 team.
 
"I told the guys afterwards, it is a historic regular season," said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. "As I have said before, I haven't always been convinced by the group, but as they have continued to get results and demonstrate their quality, it is hard to deny them what they have accomplished. It is a remarkable regular season."
 
Westmont did not look like a team that had taken its foot off the gas pedal after winning the GSAC Regular Season Championship on Thursday. Four first-half goals made it clear that the Warriors had come to play.
 
"We gave them a tangible and an intangible before the game," reported Wolf regarding his efforts to keep the team motivated. "The tangible was that we knew that at the very least, this result would have a bearing on the final ranking. The intangible was, I think, the bigger motivator. That was to send the seniors off properly in their final regular season game. That group of players looked sharp, they looked up for it and they looked as if they still had some appetite."
 
The game's first two goals were scored by seniors. In the 13th minute, senior Francisco "Panchito" Castro sent a corner kick to senior Lucky Puengrod who was left alone 20 yards out on the right side. Before a Firestorm defender could get to him, Puengrod settled the ball, then fired off a shot that hit the inside of the near post and ricocheted into the net.
 
In the 24th minute, Castro delivered another corner, this time into the box. Senior Tim Heiduk settled the pass with his right foot, planted his left and fired off a shot with his right for the score.
 
For the rest of the Warrior scoring, it was the sophomore class that produced results.
 
In the 30th minute, Owen Bates gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead. A ball was cleared out by an Arizona Christian defender that came to Bates in front of the Warrior bench. Bates dribbled past midfield before passing ahead to Sam Tuscano who was streaking down the middle of the field. Though one on one with the goalkeeper, who was rushing toward him, Tuscano passed the ball back to Bates who had continued his run toward the goal. Bates one-touched the ball with his left foot into an open net.
 
Three minutes later, the same duo teamed up for the Warriors' fourth goal. Tuscano chased down a ball on the right side of the 18 yard box and sent it across to the left side. Bates stopped the pass, then fired just inside the near post with his right foot, out of the reach of the diving keeper.
 
With a 4-0 lead at the half, Wolf decided it was time to use some of his reserves. In fact, all 24 players played with everyone playing at least 25 minutes.
 
"This was obviously an opportunity to get some people on the field who haven't had a chance to play a lot," said Wolf. "I thought that the guys who came on were able to maintain a solid level, especially defensively. It was really great to get Joshua Phillips, Memo Mendoza and Micah Nelson on the field together. I thought they all contributed – Josh especially – in the back row."
 
Offensively, the Warriors added one second-half goal on a successful penalty kick by Tuscano. The sophomore had drawn the penalty kick when he was tackled in the box while chasing after a ball that had rebounded off of the keeper.
 
With the regular season now in the rearview mirror, the Warriors' attention shifts to postseason play.
 
Westmont, the number one seed in the GSAC Tournament, will be off next week, enjoying a hard-won bye in the quarterfinal round. Vanguard, the number three seed will host sixth-seeded The Master's in one quarterfinal while Hope International, the number four seed, will host OUAZ in the other semifinal game. Both games will be played on Saturday, November 9.
 
The winners of those games will advance to the semifinals, which will be hosted by Westmont on Wednesday, November 13. Westmont will take on the lowest remaining seed while Menlo will host the other quarterfinal winner. The GSAC championship game will be held on Friday, November 15 at Thorrington Field.
 
"The hope is that there is more and even better football in front of us," said Wolf, "but we will have to work awfully hard to be better than we have been. That will take something. We have been good.
 
"We have the right group of seniors," said Wolf, reflecting on his team's potential. "They give us as good a chance as anybody."