By Rob Goodrow
August 23, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) After a late start to their season opener Friday, the Westmont men's soccer offense found the net early and managed to hold on for a 3-2 win against visiting UC Merced. The Warriors victory followed a double overtime 2-2 draw between The Master's University and Embry-Riddle University (Ariz.), both games opened the 13^th Heritage Club Classic at Westmont College's Thorrington Field.
 
The three goals Friday marked a turnaround from the shutout loss Westmont suffered last season at Merced. Warrior head coach, Dave Wolf, was pleased with how his team handled the Bobcats of UC Merced this time around.
 
Said Wolf, "You know we experienced that same defensive pressure up at their place last year, they were all over us, we couldn't cope." Wolf continued, "It was a great win for our team today, a game played with a tremendous amount of intensity and competiveness - a perfect opener."
 
Westmont took the lead twice before the game-winning strike by Christian Webb off an assist by Francisco "Panchito" Castro in the 85^th minute. As Wolf explained it, the play was a more successful version of a similar exchange in a scrimmage versus UCLA this past Tuesday.
 
"What is interesting is that Pancho found Christian with a neat little pass at UCLA that Christian wasn't able to convert, which led to today. The vision Pancho had to see Christian's movement and then the ability to take and finish that ball with the outside of his foot – that's a high level finish by Christian."
 
That finish would prove to be the difference as Westmont battled the tough Bobcats throughout the match. After Westmont scored just three minutes and two seconds into the first half, UC Merced would equalize in the 23^rd minute.
 
Explained Wolf, "We obviously found a couple ways to get looks and turn them into goals, but it still doesn't mean it was easy."
 
In the second half, locked at 1-1, the Warriors took the lead on a crossing pass by Owen Bates that Tyler Young knocked into the net. The momentum, however, was short lived, as UC Merced's Marcos Ceballos headed in a cross from teammate Miguel Coronado just two minutes later.
 
The Warrior defense held tight, led by goalkeeper, Edward "Lalo" Delgado, with five saves and fellow senior captain, Tim Heiduk. "Tim and Nick Ruiz were rock-solid in the middle for us," said Wolf, who also singled out another of his seniors, Lucky Puengrod, for being a catalyst in overcoming that swarming Bobcat defense. "I thought that Lucky, if we could get him on the ball, had the capability of playing fast enough to beat their pressure and he did just that tonight."

The Warriors face another tough opponent on Saturday as they face Embry-Riddle, in the second game of a doubleheader at Russ Carr Field.
 
"We're playing a team tomorrow that was down 2-0 and down a man and came back and drew and ended the game with nine men," said Wolf, who noted the back-to-back matches will likely change the tactics of both teams.
 
"Obviously, the fact that both teams played today is going to create some challenges tomorrow relative to rotation. The tempo tomorrow will probably look a little different because of the fact that both teams exerted so much today."
 
In the opening game of Friday's double-bill, GSAC rival The Master's University faced Embry-Riddle in a game that was marred by an on-field injury and subsequently lengthy delay in action. Embry-Riddle, down 2-0 in the first half, equalized the game in the 83^rd minute, forcing two overtime periods with no score, resulting in the 2-2 draw.
 
Saturday's games begin at 12:00 p.m. when The Master's takes on UC Merced, followed by Westmont versus Embry-Riddle at 2:30 p.m. on Thorrington Field.