By Rob Goodrow
September 2, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Westmont men's soccer team won 3-0 Monday over the Coyotes of Kansas Wesleyan to open the season 4-0 for the first time since 2007.
 
The Warriors got on the board early in the first half when Jona Romero converted a free kick into the top right corner of the goal. Westmont head coach Dave Wolf complimented his junior midfielder.
 
"Jona Romero has been really good for us and it was nice to see him finish that free kick. It is one thing to hear from your coaches that you're playing well but it's even better to have a tangible result like a goal to show for that good play, that hard work."
 
Much of the remainder of the first half was marked by the oft penalized play of Kansas Wesleyan. The Coyotes drew three yellow cards after falling behind, one of which resulted in the Warriors second goal off a penalty kick by Francisco "Panchito" Castro. Wolf felt his team handled the rough play with poise.
 
"There's a fine line between sticking up for yourselves and your teammates and getting involved in the after-play skirmishes, the back and forth," said Wolf. "Because we've been the team that's on the ball a lot these past two games, you have to expect that opponents will try and disrupt you, they don't want you to be in rhythm."
 
"As a coach, you want competitive guys, you want them to stick up for each other, you don't want them to be 'welcome mats' but we also don't want it to get over the edge where we lose our way as a team out on the field."
 
Westmont put up a shutout for the second consecutive game. The Coyotes were limited to two shots-on-goal, one of which was converted into a highlight stop by Warrior goalkeeper, Edward "Lalo" Delgado. Wolf noted that his defense, while solid, is not conventional.
 
"Normally, you find four guys who can play in the back and run them into the ground. We rotate quite a bit in the back, with our youth and depth, it enables us to do that. There's a lot of parity between having Justin Nakaoka, Ethan Banez, Michael Palmer, or Wyatt Babineau in there."
 
"Shutouts, those are good," noted Wolf. "You want to be able to demonstrate that you can do that because as the season unfolds there are a lot of 1-0 games and to know you can 'pitch a shutout' is a big part of your team's confidence going into those late season situations."
 
The Warriors dug the Coyotes into an even deeper hole when they scored eleven minutes into the second half on a combination pass from Castro to Tyler Young.
 
"I liked that we were finally able to deliver more of a knockout punch today by getting that third goal. Tyler almost did it in the first half, he had a pretty good chance but the keeper made a good save. The one in the second half Pancho did a lot of work to create the opportunity for Tyler to knock it home."
 
The undefeated Warriors match up against the University of Antelope Valley Saturday at 12:00 p.m.