By Ron Smith
October 14, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A trio of goals resulted in Westmont Men's Soccer (5-1-3, 3-0) posting a 3-1 win over Azusa Pacific (5-5-2, 2-2). The win, which came during Homecoming festivities, was the third in a row by the Warriors and preserves Westmont's status as the only undefeated team in conference play.
 
"I thought it was a great result," said Westmont's head coach Morgan Cathey. "Great results sometimes come with great performances and sometimes not. I thought today the result matched the performance. I thought our guys created a lot of very good chances in the game.
 
"Beyond that, we limited them to a couple of clear chances. It was unfortunate to concede a goal in the last 30 seconds, but credit to our guys for continuing to not just fight to the end, but to continue to push and expose the opponent to the very end."
 
Westmont's first goal came in the 17th minute as the result of a free kick. From 30 yards out on the right side, Braeden Pryor led Eric Guerrero with a pass on the right side. Guerrero dribbled forward, then passed the ball along the face of the goal where Barrett Goodman redirected it into the net.
 
"It is the third game in a row that we have had a central defender score a goal," pointed out Cathey. "We worked on that set piece throughout the week and to see it come off the way it did was really exciting for us."
 
In the 34th minute, the Warriors' Leonel Olivo Ortiz, collected a free ball near midfield and passed forward to a wide open Pryor who was 25 yards out. Pryor, one-on-one with the keeper, dribbled forward then fired from 10 yards out along the ground. The ball passed between the keeper's legs and into the net.
 
"Braeden was a threat throughout the game," noted Cathey. "He continues to show how he can expose opponents in space. His pace and power is really great."
 
In the 69th minute, Westmont added a third goal, courtesy of Connor Lynch. The junior forward stole the ball from a defender's pass, dribbled to his left and fired off a shot from 25 yards out.
 
The Warriors have now outscored their opponents 11-1 in the last three games and allowed just one goal in four.
 
"It was a very good performance, again, from all of the players in the backline," assessed Cathey. "I thought Matthew Morgan was fantastic. I thought Miguel Mondragon came on and did very well and I thought Cash Anderholt had a great game. The usual suspects - Brady Highfill, Barrett Goodman and Landon Amaral - were awesome."
 
Azusa Pacific got on the scoreboard in the final minute when Adam Hamza scored on an assist from Zedan Mutlu.
 
"We knew that we were up against a very good team full of some very good individuals and that the talent was really high," reflected Cathey. "We had to be extremely sharp and we also had to work and be collective in our effort. That was, without doubt, the most collective we have been as far as our effort was concerned. I am really happy for our guys."
 
With the win, Westmont moved into sole possession of second place in the PacWest standings with nine points (three points for a win, one for a tie). Westmont is one point behind Dominican, who at 3-1-1 in conference play, has played two more games than the Warriors.
 
Next up for Westmont are three games in the Hawaiian Islands. On Thursday, the Warriors will play on the big island, taking on Hawaii Hilo (5-5, 2-2). Westmont will catch an island hopper flight shortly after the game and then face off against Chaminade (0-7-2, 0-3-1) on Saturday and Hawaii Pacific (4-6-1, 2-3) on Tuesday.