By Ron Smith
September 2, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Soccer (0-2) finished off the 2023 Heritage Club Classic with a loss to the Red Leafs of Simon Fraser (2-0) from British Columbia. The Red Leafs, ranked fourth in the West Region by the United Soccer Coaches, scored in the second and 68th minute to claim a 2-0 win.
 
For the first goal, Ali Zohar stole the ball 30 yards from the goal, then dribbled to the top of the box where he was able to get past the keeper and finish into an empty net.
 
Westmont kept the score within one for the next 65 minutes, but did not find an equalizer.
 
The Red Leafs' Mads Poulsson did the majority of the work on the second goal. He took possession of the ball 25 yards from the Warriors' end line, received it back on a quick give-and-go, then dribbled up the right field touchline past midfield. He then cut in toward the center of the field and continued the dribble until about five yards above the box. Poulsson slotted the ball into the box where it found Michael Hennessy who was crossing diagonally from left to right. Despite stumbling, Hennessy was able to fire off a shot from the right side of the goal into the left netting.
 
"First and foremost, I can't fault the players' ability and desire to work and battle and fight," said Westmont's head coach Morgan Cathey. "That was completely evident and really impactful throughout the game. I am very pleased with the character of our group.
 
Cathey was particularly pleased with the efforts of Zeke Padilla and Eric Guerrero.
 
"I thought Zeke did well today," said Cathey. "He was good at being dangerous when he got the ball and continuing to move it forward exposed space. I thought he did really well versus the players he was up against. I thought Eric did well in the first half to give us the ability to progress the ball under pressure."
 
Regarding mistakes that led to goals, the Warriors' coach said, "We are going to minimize mistakes as we continue to play. These mistakes are not indicative of these players. We are going to continue to get better if we show the character we showed today. We kept ourselves in the game and fought back well. So, I was happy with the overall performance and desire from the guys as well.
 
"When the opponent has five to seven players in the box, and they take up a lot of space, it is always going to be difficult to break them down in that moment. However, I thought we put ourselves in really good moments to do that. So, I think it will come.
 
"Based on the opponent, we had to change a little bit today. We tried to position players in the right spaces to be able to receive the ball in time and space. I thought we did well to get the ball to those players. I think it can always be better, but definitely, today was in my opinion a step in the right direction."
 
Next week, the Warriors will take on the two top-ranked teams in the NCAA DII West Region. On Wednesday, Westmont will pay a visit to second-ranked Cal State Los Angeles. Then on Saturday, the Warriors will host the region's top ranked team - Cal State Dominguez Hills. Saturday's kick-off at Thorrington field is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.