By Ron Smith
September 25, 2024
 
(LOS ANGELES) Westmont Men's Soccer (3-1-3) held with the Bruins of UCLA in the first half but conceded four goals in the second half to fall 5-1 in Westwood. Cole Lomeli recorded the Warriors' goal in the 75th minute to prevent the shutout.
 
"We were in most of the game," assessed Westmont's head coach Morgan Cathey. "UCLA was good at exploiting space, but I thought we defended well in the first half. We also had a couple of chances against the run of play. I thought the first-half score line reflected more or less the game.
 
"The second half, we made a big mistake with UCLA scoring an unbelievable game off a missed clearance. To concede (another goal) right after that put the game to bed for them. We just didn't have enough energy and enough moments that we were going to be able to come back from that."
 
This was the team's fourth game in eight days.
 
"We didn't have the energy that we normally have and that we have come to know within this group," said Cathey. "I also think that it would be unfair to expect that from them, given that they have played a lot of football in the last eight days. We are tired and sore. That is to be expected. There is nothing major that happened, which is good for us.
 
"We will recover well and our bodies will be stronger because of it. I am really proud of the guys and the effort that we put forward. I think it is a really good opportunity for our guys to see how a good team can expose us and where we can get better. It is all positives from here."
 
The bright spot was Lomeli's goal against the Bruins, assisted by Connor Lynch.
 
"We had two moments in the second half where we broke through, breaking their press all the way to the attacking half," reported Cathey. "In this moment, Connor came down the right-hand side and squared it to Cole. He cut back and saw an opportunity to shoot to the far post. He hit an unbelievable shot that curved in. The goalkeeper got a touch, but it went off the crossbar and down. That was a really good goal."
 
With the non-conference season in the rear view window, the Warriors have the rest of the week to rest up and prepare for the PacWest season. On Saturday, Westmont will kick-off conference play in La Mirada, taking on the Eagles of Biola in a four o'clock game.