By Jacob Norling

March 11, 2021

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) #12 Westmont (3-1, 2-0 GSAC) defeated NCCAA Bethesda (3-4-1) by a score of 7-0 on Thursday, in a non-conference meeting. After COVID-19 protocols postponed the Warriors' originally scheduled match with San Diego Christian, Westmont was quick to add Bethesda to the agenda, not wanting to go without a match this week. 

Westmont recorded 14 shots on goal, and 32 in total, while only surrendering one shot on goal for the entire match. 

In the third minute, Westmont's Abraham Arteaga was forced to record his first career Westmont save. When an over the top pass gave Leonardo Rambelli a one on one with the keeper, Arteaga darted off his line at the perfect moment and was able to thwart the attempt with a kick save. 

Westmont assistant coach Johnny Whallon spoke highly of Arteaga's composure early, saying, "We felt like today was a good opportunity to throw him into the fire and it says a lot about Abraham to be ready to make that save in the third minute. I'm sure there were nerves, with that being his first time out there, but he made the stop he had to in order to keep the clean sheet, and I think that should give him a lot of confidence, and give our team a lot of confidence in him."

In the seventh minute, senior Nick Ruiz lofted a beautiful pass from the far side of the 18-yard box that landed directly on the right temple of Tyler Young. Young redirected the pass into the back of the net for the first score of the afternoon, and for his second goal in as many games. 

With the match only 1-0, Rambelli had another chance to get Bethesda on the board in the 14th minute with another one on one with Arteaga. Again however, the freshman keeper stormed off his line at the perfect moment and caused Rambelli to chip his shot high. It was the last time Arteaga had a close call.

Westmont scored their second goal of the day in the 16th minute, when Owen Bates intercepted a pass at midfield and was off to the races. Bates took the ball all the way down to the 18-yard box, and Westmont had numbers in Bethesda territory. After Bates had his first shot deflected, the ball found Aldo Becerril who rolled a pass to Westmont striker Sam Tuscano. Tuscano used his left foot to bend a dazzling shot inside the left post, doubling the Warriors lead early.

"Sam has just shown so much confidence early this season and it's awesome to see him continuously taking the next step," said Whallon. 

In the 40th minute, the Braeden Pryor show began when he scored his first career goal as a Warrior. Pryor got a breakaway inside the eighteen, and calmly deposited it past the diving Flames' keeper for the Warriors' third goal. Westmont's three goals in the first half surpassed their season high.

Pryor doubled his goal total seven minutes into the second half, when Mason Ginny delivered a pass through two Bethesda defenders that Pryor redirected with a one-touch shot into the net. 

Two minutes later, Pryor took a penalty kick for the Warriors and buried it into the left side of the net to make it a 5-0 score. Pryor, with his three goals up to that point, tied Samuel Tuscano for the most goals on the club this season up to that point.

Pryor took sole claim atop the Westmont leader board when Cole DiMatteo found him open in the box again just moments later. Pryor hammered home his fourth goal of the match past the diving Flames keeper, and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon from the Warriors' sidelines, as head coach Dave Wolf decided Pryor had done more than enough to earn a breather. 

Pryor's four goals in today's match is third all-time for Westmont single game records.

Whallon said, "The thing about Braeden's goals today is that these are the goals we want him to get. We want him to get good runs inside the box and redirect off of services, because those are the goals than a nine lives for. It's the goals that look easy to the naked eye but really take a lot behind the scenes to get to. Cole and Mason deserve just as much credit for their services as well, because I thought they showed a lot of chemistry down there."

Wyatt Babineau, in the 73th minute of the match, recorded his first Westmont goal from beyond the 18-yard box on the far side of the field. Babineau tore through the far side of the field without much pressure when an oncoming defender finally approached him as he neared the eighteen. Before the defender could fully close the gap, Babineau drilled a ball from twenty-yards out that soared into the left pocket of the net, right inside the left post, for the Warriors seventh goal of the match. 

The Warriors seven goals is eighth all time for single-game Westmont records.

Whallon said, "We just wanted to keep the rhythm going with our group, not wanting to take a day off with a couple big matches ahead. I think today was a good step forward, regardless of the score, because of the guys we were able to get big minutes on the field. Now, we'll look forward to Vanguard and get ready for next week."

The Warriors return to GSAC play next Thursday when they travel to Costa Mesa to clash with the Vanguard Lions in a huge game regarding the GSAC West standings. In accordance with local and state mandates spectators will not be permitted to attend next week's match in person. However, fans can watch live on the Vanguard athletics website.