By Ron Smith
November 7, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBRA, Calif.) Two Warrior goals in the final 12 minutes is what Westmont Men's Soccer (9-4-4, 6-3-1) needed to secure a berth in next week's PacWest Championship. The 2-1 win over Hawai'i Pacific  required perseverance on the part of the Warriors. In the end, the character-producing exercise netted the players an opportunity to extend their season.
 
"The goal from day one was to be in the tournament," said Westmont's head coach Morgan Cathey. "Our guys have done an incredible job to achieve the markers and objectives we had as a program. It has not been an easy year. There have been moments when we were inconsistent. But, I think this is a special team that has enough quality to not just be in the tournament, but to be a contender to win the tournament. That is exciting and I am thrilled to have that opportunity."
 
The Sharks scored in the blink of an eye in the 22nd minute. A free kick was sent back to goalkeeper Kevin Harr who then dribbled beyond the top of the 18-yard box before sending a long ball over the top. The service found the head of Kelly Takara who was about half way between the midfield stripe and the goal. Takara flicked it forward to Jonathan Sorto who ran on it about 20 yards from goal, took one touch to encourage it forward, then ran on it again and scored from 10 yards out with his left foot.
 
Though Westmont would have many chances to score – they tallied 17 shots including nine shots on goal - they were not able to find the equalizer until the 79th minute.
 
Less than a minute after Michael Stull checked into the game, Erik Guerrero passed him the ball in the right corner. Stull sent a cross into the box that cleared everyone and travelled along the end line, left of the goal. Leonel Olivo Ortiz hustled to his left, retrieved the ball, dribbled back toward the goal and served it in front of the net. Stull, raised up and headed the ball into the goal to even the score at one.
 
Eight minutes later, Connor Lynch scored the goal that secured the postseason tournament berth. Landon Amaral sent a ball over the top near the left touch line. Micah Wilhelm ran on the ball and took one touch to send it forward to Lynch who was on a parallel path, just inside Wilhelm and a step ahead. Lynch also took just one touch, firing past the keeper who was charging forward and into the middle of the goal.
 
"Our performance wasn't great today," acknowledged Cathey. "What is indicative of this group is that we may win and not feel the joy and satisfaction of winning when it is not done in the standard to which we hold ourselves. From the players to the coaching staff, we felt like our performance wasn't at the level it needed to be. Obviously to come back in the last 12 minutes to score two goals to win is awesome. But knowing that we never should have been in that place is heavy.
 
"We are a team that is very driven to be our best version of ourselves."
 
Asked how his players kept up their motivation and intensity deep into the game, Cathey replied, "Because there were so many clear chances that we created, our guys kept believing that the next one would come. We also started to find more spaces where we could expose them. Those spaces opened more as the game went on and the guys did a good job to expose the opponent in those ways.
 
"Serkan Durna had a really good game. He was pretty dangerous throughout the game. Daniel Tuscano was an engine for us. He did so much on both sides of the ball, helping us on the defensive side and creating a lot offensively. He will be wishing he had some of those chances back, but I thought he was relentless. Donovan Howat was incredible on the defensive side today."
 
Before heading into postseason play, the Warriors will finish up the regular season on Saturday when they host Dominican as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. The men's game begins at 11:00 a.m. with the women's kicking off at 2:00 p.m. Both teams will honor their graduating seniors in ceremonies before each game.
 
The PacWest Tournament begins on Thursday, November 14 with semifinal play. Westmont's seeding, opponent and start time will be determined by several games played by conference teams on Saturday. If the Warriors win on Saturday, they will be the number two seed. The championship game is slated for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 16. All games are at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine.