By Jacob Norling
August 16, 2021
 
(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) Thirty years ago, Dave Wolf spent his first season as head coach of the Westmont Warriors. On that team was a freshman midfielder by the name of Ryan Jorden. The club won 16 games that year. In the 29 that have followed, Wolf has led the club to 332 more, and his 348 in total rank him 11th all-time in the NAIA.
 
Ryan Jorden played for Wolf from 1991-1994, graduated in 1995, and returned as an assistant coach under Wolf beginning in 2000. He remained in the role until 2007. After coaching stops at schools such as Cal Baptist and Northern Colorado, Jorden was named the head coach of UCLA men's soccer in April of 2019.
 
"It still feels like yesterday" said Jorden of his time under first-year coach Dave Wolf, "and with Wolf not a lot has changed. He still demands good football and good things from his teams. It's always fun to get to play against one another, and tonight was probably about the tenth time we've been able to do this. Obviously for other reasons, tonight was special."
 
Tonight in Westwood, the Bruins appeared to be too much to handle for a young Warriors team as UCLA handed Westmont a 3-0 defeat in the exhibition. Early on, the Bruins' attack was able to penetrate the Warriors' defense, not allowing the club to ever truly find their footing.
 
"UCLA played a clean brand of football", said Wolf. "If it wasn't against us, it was the kind of performance I would have really enjoyed getting to watch. Ryan is obviously doing an incredible job and I couldn't be any more impressed or proud of him. He's produced great teams wherever he's gone and I'm confident that with the right amount of time, he'll do no different here."
 
In the sixth minute, UCLA's Tommy Silva beat right back Justin Nakaoka on the near side corner of the field leading center back Michael Palmer to have to drift towards the sideline to cut off Silva's angle. Left wide open in the middle was Jose Contell Lechon who had the ball crossed directly to him. Lechon redirected it past keeper Abraham Arteaga with a single touch.
 
In the 14th minute, Samuel Tuscano received a pass in the midfield following a quick turnover and attempted to catch Bruins keeper Justin Garces on his heels with a shot from 30 yards out. With Garces retreating, Tuscano fired with his left foot and put a rising shot on frame towards the upper left post. However Garces gathered and timed his jump perfectly and was able to deflect the shot back and out of bounds, denying Westmont the equalizer. It would be the club's only shot on goal.
 
Two minutes later, the Bruins put on an offensive clinic in the Westmont eighteen. Twice, a Bruins player had an open shot with a Westmont defender closing, and both times the Bruins let the Westmont player close the gap before passing to another UCLA player. After two Warriors were fully committed to the two attackers, a wide open Grayson Doody received a pass and fired a shot past a diving Arteaga to double the lead.
 
Then in the 47th minute, the Bruins showed much of the same synergy. After the Bruins squandered a Warrior attack on the UCLA side of the field, UCLA quickly countered and was off to the races. Andrew Paoli intercepted the initial pass from the Warriors, then immediately served a ball past a pushed-up Westmont defense on the near side of the field, towards the corner.
 
The ball found UCLA's Ollie de Visser without a single Westmont body within 10 yards of him. As de Visser's teammates caught up to the action, he served a cross that reached Riley Ferch at the top of the eighteen. Ferch trapped the ball and had a moment to set himself up before finishing UCLA's third goal of the night.
 
"Landon, let it go. Their play was perfect," said Coach Wolf to a frustrated Landon Amaral playing defense on the near side. Amaral nodded his head in agreement before shaking his head in frustration.
 
"I think in most cases we are able to build self confidence in these settings," said Wolf after the game. "I think my biggest disappointment tonight was that we never got to the point where we looked like we believed that we belonged. We looked jumbled and technically did not look well and that was frustrating.
 
"In these kinds of games we are not going to plant five men in the back row and see how long we can hold an opponent off. We schedule these games so that we learn to build an attack and play our game against top tier opponents and I just didn't think we took advantage of that opportunity on this occasion."
 
The club did not have their best game by any means, but regardless of the scoreboard, tonight remained special for the Warriors, and also for the Bruins. In the 69th minute, Westmont checked in Graeme Jorden, Ryan's son, and Jackson Wolf, Dave's youngest son. Thirty years after Dave first coached Ryan, their sons made their collegiate debuts side-by-side in Westmont uniforms.
 
"That was really special," said the older Wolf. "In the midst of the game and obviously being competitive, I was able to appreciate that moment for what it was. I thought those young men handled that moment really well. For them to play in their first college soccer game tonight, in this scenario, in this venue, was asking a lot. For them to handle themselves the way they did made me all the more pleased."
 
"That was fun," said Coach Jorden with a smile. "I'm really happy for Graeme and the opportunity he is going to have at Westmont. I know he's going to be in a great environment and I'm excited for what his experience is going to be, not only on the field but getting to be a part of the Westmont community as a whole."
 
In now his thirty-first season at Westmont, Wolf has won nearly 350 games and 12 GSAC championships. It is nights like tonight in Los Angeles that remind the Westmont community how the legacy of the program has grown far beyond that of the record books, and how that trend does not appear to be ending anytime soon.
 
As men such as Ryan Jorden and Tanner Wolf (Dave's oldest son) have worn the Warrior crest, it is now donned by men such as Graeme Jorden and Jackson Wolf, whose legacy is set to be built in the coming weeks, months, and years.
 
Westmont takes the field next for their first official game on August 28 in Santa Barbara, where they'll host Biola at 3:00 p.m.