By Ron Smith
November 2, 2024
 
(SAN FRANCISCO) Westmont Men's Soccer (8-4-4, 5-3-1 PacWest) snatched plenty of loot on Treasure Island where the Warriors posted a 6-0 win over the Urban Knights of Academy of Art (2-11-2, 0-8-1). Six different Warriors produced goals, helping to advance Westmont's quest for a postseason berth in the PacWest Championship.
 
The game was held at San Francisco Glens Stadium on the San Francisco Bay island.
 
"We had a very good overall performance from everyone," said Westmont's head coach Morgan Cathey, speaking from Pier 39 after the contest. "From the start of the game, we showed our intention. You could see that the guys were hungry to defend high up the field and also quick to expose the opponent in the spaces that were there for us today.
 
"Twenty seconds into the game, their goalkeeper made an unbelievable save," reported Cathey. "We had three clear-cut chances at the start of the game. We didn't finish, but the team kept going and once the first goal came, there was only going to be one clear direction in the game and that was going to be in our favor."
 
The icebreaking goal was the result of a penalty kick, which was awarded when the Urban Knight's goalkeeper fouled Luis Cortez in the box. In the 22nd minute, Landon Amaral took the PK, placing it in the upper right corner to give Westmont a 1-0 lead.
 
Then in the 26th minute, Connor Lynch doubled the Warriors' advantage. Amaral liberated the ball from an Urban Knight then passed it to Lynch as he broke for the goal. From just inside the left corner of the penalty area, Lynch sent a shot along the ground into the far corner.
 
"I thought Connor had a really good game," expressed Cathey. "Defensively, I thought Landon was really good. Obviously to have a goal and an assist, he was good on both sides of the ball.
 
"There was a lot of cohesion from our midfield, looking to expose spaces in behind. We played a lot of good forward passes. When we were around the box it looked like we came alive. That was a good step forward today."
 
Westmont made it a 3-0 game less than two minutes later. Just past the midfield stripe, Erik Guerrero led Daniel Tuscano with a pass on the right side. Tuscano let the ball roll past him, then used just one touch of his left foot to score from 21 yards out. That made the score 3-0 in the 27th minute of play.
 
With the first-half clock ticking down under two minutes, Michael Stull recorded the Warriors' fourth goal. Micah Wilhelm set a ball forward to Stull who was breaking to the box on a diagonal from the right side. From 16 yards out, Stull one-touched the ball with his right foot for the goal.
 
Less than five minutes into the second half, Westmont went up 5-0. Tuscano found Lynch open on the left side, who in turn connected with Guerrero at the top of the 18. Guerrero took a touch, pushing the ball forward, then fired with his left foot from 12 yards away.
 
The final goal of the game came in the 79th minute. Diego Alvaro dribbled down the right touch line, then crossed the ball in front of the box. Yordan Marinov ran onto the ball and hit the shot from the left corner of the six-yard box.
 
With the game on Treasure Island surrendering three points to the Warriors, Westmont finds itself tied with Hawai'i Hilo (10-5-1, 5-4-1) for fourth place in the PacWest standings with 16 points. Since two of the teams ahead of them are not eligible for postseason play, Hilo and Westmont are tied for the second seed in the upcoming PacWest Championship.
 
Westmont has two games remaining on its regular season schedule, and therefore two opportunities to add to its treasure trove of conference points. Hilo has just one game remaining.
 
With a win in either of its final two games – both of which will be played next week - Westmont clinches a PacWest Tournament berth. With two wins, the Warriors are guaranteed the number two seed.
 
Those two games will both be played at home next week on Thorrington Field. On Thursday, the men's team will kick off against Hawai'i Pacific (4-10, 3-6) at 11:00 a.m. with the women's game starting at 2:00. Then next Saturday, Westmont will conclude regular season play with games against Dominican.