By Jacob Norling
September 6, 2021
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont (1-1) struggled to build an attack against Rocky Mountain (2-0-1), and a penalty kick goal from the Battlin' Bears was all the visitors needed to hand #25 Westmont a 1-0 loss on Monday afternoon.
 
"There's different ways to interpret how this match unfolded," offered Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. "Today we played against a team that has more experience than us, and one of the manifestations of that experience is knowing to run the pace of a match when you have a lead.
 
"With experience comes the knowledge of knowing when to foul, when to slow things down, and then when to speed things up. Rocky Mountain put on a masterclass on how to protect a lead. Their experience allowed them to reduce the duration of that second half significantly, and credit to them for that."
 
Rocky Mountain let it be known immediately that their brand of soccer would require the Warriors to up their physicality to another level.
 
During the first fifteen minutes of play, the Bears looked to bully the Warriors inside the Westmont half of the field. While Rocky Mountain's midfield continued to overpower Westmont's, the home team's defense stood tall.
 
While the Bears recorded four shots in the first fifteen minutes, Westmont's defense kept the game knotted at zero, due in part to the first career save for freshman keeper Brady Highfill.
 
For the final thirty minutes of the first half, Rocky Mountain did not record another shot. For Westmont, the club posted two shots, both on goal, and both off the left foot of Samuel Tuscano. However, neither was much of a threat to Bears' keeper Ryan Cornwall.
 
As the half progressed, Westmont's club began to meet the physicality of the visiting Bears, and neither side let the other gain comfort. After the first 45, Rocky Mountain had committed six fouls compared to Westmont's five.
 
Less than a minute into the second half, the Bears finally broke through. After a Warrior defender appeared to block a shot from Rocky Mountain's Sky Swenson, the Bears began hollering towards the center referee. The referee immediately obliged, rewarding the Bears with a penalty kick after what turned out to be a handball in the box.
 
Rocky Mountain's Milo Downey shot directly down the middle, sneaking the ball past Highfill who dove to his right, and the Bears took 1-0 lead with 44:04 left to play.
 
For the next twenty minutes, Westmont's defense continued to fend off Rocky Mountain's attempts to double the lead, but the Warriors were also unable to penetrate the Bear's backline. With twenty minutes left on the clock, the Warriors had recorded just one shot all half.
 
"The disappointment today was that we thought we may have previously turned a corner offensively," said Wolf. "During the Claremont game we were able to consistently produce scoring opportunities, which is something that we have struggled with in the past. Against Claremont we got in front of the goal and created chances, and today we just didn't."
 
With 2:30 to play, Westmont had their first of two opportunities when a free kick was awarded on the far side of the field, even with the opposing bench. Aldo Becerril quickly played the ball on the ground to Daniel Tuscano, who lofted the ball to the center of the six-yard box. Unfortunately, Cornwall arms outstretched the reach of any Warrior heads, squandering the opportunity.
 
Less than a minute later Westmont was given another free kick, this time at the center of the field about forty yards out. Westmont's center back Zach Godeck came up to take it, and the left-footer spun a pass to the right of the six-yard box. On came Memo Mendoza, trying to recreate the magic he found in the postseason last April, but on this occasion the ball grazed off of Mendoza's head and right of the near post.
 
"We were comfortable getting to the edge of the final third," noted Wolf. "However from there, we either broke down technically or ran out of ideas."
 
The Warriors would not get another shot, and Rocky Mountain completed the shutout to take the match 1-0.
 
"I want to say it was disappointing," said Wolf, "but frustrating is probably a better word to use. Based on the fact that we had taken a step forward against a good team on Friday, to not be able to successfully build upon that today is frustrating."
 
The club will return to action on Friday night, when they'll host Marymount at 4:00 p.m.
 
"Friday we'll see a team that looks a lot like Rocky Mountain," said Wolf. "We will see older and more international players so the challenge will be similar. We have to figure out a way to be more effective in the final third of the field, and we understand that you will not get a shot on goal every time you cross the midfield line. However, right now, that final third of the field is where we are going to be focused on getting better."