By Jacob Norling
September 7, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) When the Westmont Men's Soccer team last played the Whittier Poets on September 7, 2013, Tanner Wolf scored the first goal of his sophomore season in what turned out to be a 4-2 win for the Warriors.
 
On this date, nine years to the day, Tanner's youngest brother, Jackson Wolf, scored the first goal of his sophomore campaign in what turned out to be a 5-1 win over the Whittier Poets. Nine years ago, Tanner and Jackson's father, Westmont head coach Dave Wolf, picked up the 270th win of his career.
 
Today, thanks to his youngest son, Jackson, and the rest of the Warriors, Wolf picked up win 354, the first win of his 32nd and final season.
 
"There's some nice symmetry between those events," chuckled the proud father and coach.
 
Overall, the Warriors (1-0-1) out-shot the Poets (0-1-1) 21-7, and saw four different goal-scorers contribute in the club's home-opener.
 
"It was great to get a win," reflected Wolf. "We really needed that. The time for moral victories is over, we needed an actual win and went out and got it. To score some legitimate goals was a huge positive and it feels like we took a big step today."
 
Captain Landon Amaral opened the scoring in the 15th minute after Braeden Pryor was tackled hard in the 18-yard box, resulting in a penalty kick. After some discussion on the sidelines, Amaral arrived on the scene and sent a frozen-rope into the upper-right pocket of the net for the 1-0 lead.
 
"Landon was the man to go to because he's been putting in the extra work," said Wolf, when asked about selecting the penalty-taker. "He wants to be in that situation. When it comes down to the end of a training session and you see who's taking the time to hit balls when everyone else is gone, it's usually him.
 
"He's earned the right, and he took that shot with authority."
 
In the 28th minute, the Poets tied the match when left-back Dominic Morello chipped a high-floater to Westmont keeper Brady Highfill's back post. Waiting on the other end was Charlie Bentley who, with a header, snuck a ball past the shuffling Highfill for the equalizer.
 
Highfill recorded three other saves in an otherwise clean match.
 
Going into the final moments of the first half, Westmont had out-shot Whitter 9-4, but following the equalizer, momentum hung in the balance. Then, in the 43rd minute, the Warriors took control of the match for good.
 
The opportunity began with Miguel Alvarado, who was playing on the right-wing on Wednesday. For much of the afternoon, Alvarado tore up the sideline before cutting inside near the 18-yard box. On this occasion, Alvarado redirected himself towards the center of the pitch 30 yards out, visibly catching the Poets off-guard.
 
With room to carry, Alvarado drew a pair of defenders before giving way to Jonah Houston. Houston did the same, before seeing Aldo Becerril open at the top of the box. Then, for good measure, Becerril tapped a pass to an oncoming Graeme Jorden in the 18-yard box.
 
Finally, after a trio of perfect passes, Jorden fired a ball to the back of the net, putting the Warriors on top for good.
 
"The critical moment of the game was Graeme's goal," nodded Wolf. "The quality of football that led to it was top-notch, and Graeme was ruthless in the box. We've noticed that Graeme is doing a lot of producing in training, and has gotten close in games.
 
"Today, he got it over the line. He's going to be a force to reckon with moving forward."
 
Wolf also credited his midfield for creating that opportunity for Jorden, as well as for several other goal-scorers.
 
"There was sharpness in the central-channels, as well as the wide-channels," said Wolf. "Mikey (Alvarado) is playing in a role he probably never thought he'd be playing in. With that, he's taken advantage of the opportunities he's getting right now."
 
In the second half, the Warriors came out swinging and put the match away. Six minutes into the final-45, the Warriors had a corner kick on the far side, which freshman Erik Guerrero bent in with his left foot.
 
Captain Michael Palmer was on the receiving end initially, and headed the ball from the back post to the opposite end of the six-yard box. Then, Jackson Wolf put a head on the ball and followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Tanner. Like his brother nine years earlier, Jackson sent home the first goal of his sophomore season.
 
"That was really fun to hear," said the goal scorer, when told about the coincidence. "I grew up watching Tanner play here, and to be out here and do what he did is crazy. I've idolized Tanner as a player and as a person for a long time, so to share a date like that together is pretty cool."
 
Up 3-1, the Warriors were not yet done. Becerril picked up the second assist of his day in the 68th minute by rolling the ball from 25 yards out to the feet of sophomore Martin Anguiano, who was parked a step inside the 18. With room to breathe, Anguiano calmly poked home the first goal of his Westmont career.
 
Six minutes later, Anguiano received another pass from Becerril near the box. This time, Anguiano took a couple touches to set up his own shot, before burying his second goal of the year, and the fifth and final goal for the Warriors.
 
"Those were two very calm moments, followed by two very strong ball-strikes," applauded Wolf. "At halftime we pointed out that we had nine very good looks, but that we didn't make their keeper make one great save.
 
"We wanted the guys to hit the ball with some venom, and Martin hit a couple balls like a grown man. He listened to the halftime talk and did something about it."
 
After having to give pep-talks after the club's exhibitions and scrimmages, today's post game featured more affirmations than anything for a team that won 5-1.
 
"After the game, I told the team how much I loved their posture today," said Wolf. "From the warm-up there was volume, intensity, and a desire to compete. The game started sharp, they stuck each other, and they were loud.
 
"Some guys who got dropped from the lineup didn't pout, and instead were some of the loudest guys on the bench. I thought the unity of the team was really great from start to finish."
 
Wolf's Warriors will return to the pitch on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. when they host Pomona-Pitzer. Links to live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.