By Ron Smith
October 24, 2024
 
(IRVINE, Calif.) Westmont Men's Soccer (7-4-3, 4-3 PacWest) moved into a three-way tie for the second seed in the upcoming PacWest Tournament with a 2-0 win over the Golden Eagles of Concordia (4-6, 2-4) on Thursday. The Warriors benefited from a Golden Eagles own goal early in the game and sealed the victory with a goal late.
 
"It was an incredible defensive effort from the whole team," offered Westmont's head coach Morgan Cathey. "There was only one moment when I didn't feel completely secure in the defensive output of our team. It was a great defensive performance against a team that is really dangerous, can score, and has a lot of really good weapons. That gave us the foundation to attack from."
 
The own goal by Concordia was scored in just the eighth minute of play. Leonel Olivo Ortiz crossed a ball from just inside the right-hand side of the 18-yard box, attempting to connect with Connor Lynch in front of the goal. The ball was intercepted by a Golden Eagle defender who made an effort to clear the ball back toward Ortiz. However, the ball ricocheted off another defender and into the empty net.
 
"We were definitely rewarded for being in their box and creating dangerous opportunities," expressed Cathey. "For our guys to get the goal and be ahead in the game gave them some confidence and more wind in our sails.
 
"My overall impression is that we exploited them a ton in the first half where we wanted to. The first goal was definitely coming. We were unlucky not to get one or two more. Early on in the second half we had two or three chances to knock in one more goal."
 
The game remained 1-0 until Westmont doubled its advantage at the end of the 82nd minute of play. Cash Anderholt threw the ball into the box from the right touch line. The ball bounced around a bit before Landon Amaral sent a bullet of a shot toward the goal. However, the shot was blocked by a Concordia defender before it could reach its intended target.
 
Michael Stull tracked the deflected ball down just to the left of the six-yard box and passed it back to Serkan Durna. Positioned around 12-yard out, Durna ripped off a shot with his right foot, hitting the bottom of the crossbar and deflecting into the goal.
 
"The second goal came with something we had worked on in training with a throw-in," said Cathey. "I was proud of our guys to pick up the second ball and the third ball and be proficient in the box. That was a good performance from our group and I am very proud of the guys.
 
"Serkan had a really good game and it was great for him to be rewarded with the goal. He had a similar moment earlier in the half where he was open at the edge of the box after a set piece, but it just got nipped away from him. He earned a good opportunity in the game and took it."
 
Behind the defensive efforts of Amaral, Barret "Bear" Goodman and Anderholt, the Warriors allowed the Golden Eagles just two shots on goal.
 
"Barrett and Landon did really well," noted Cathey, "but I thought Cash was probably the overall best individual performance of anyone in the back. He was immense on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he was outstanding for the whole 90 minutes. He very rarely gave his winger any sort of joy. He just locked him down and was honest, intense and very smart. He also had some incredible moments going forward for us. I thought Cash was great."
 
With the win, Westmont moves into a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings. #14 Point Loma (8-1-3, 6-0-1) sits atop the standings with 19 points (three for a win, one for a tie). Menlo (8-4-1, 6-1) and Vanguard (6-3-2, 4-2-1) are in second and third place with 18 and 13 points respectively. Both Menlo and Vanguard are in their second year of transition into NCAA and are ineligible for postseason play.
 
Joining Westmont in fourth place are Biola (6-7-1, 4-3) and Hawai'i Hilo (9-5, 3-3-1), each of whom have 12 points in the standings. Those three teams, along with Azusa Pacific (4-7-1, 3-3-1), Fresno Pacific (4-4-5, 3-3) and Dominican (6-6-1, 3-4) are vying for the final three spots in the PacWest Championship.
 
On Saturday, Westmont will host Hawai'i Hilo as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. The men's game will begin at noon with the women scheduled to kick off at 3:15 p.m.
 
"This next game is super important," observed Cathey. "Obviously, we have the tiebreaker on Biola. If we can maintain and not drop points in this game, it will be hard for Hilo to make up points when we have a game in hand. Obviously, we are going to do everything to win the game on Saturday. Second seed is really important. I am looking forward to what the guys can give with a short turnaround."