By: Hope Hensley
September 23, 2026
COSTA MESA, Calif. — The Westmont men's soccer team opened Pacific West Conference play with a high-scoring, back-and-forth thriller on Wednesday afternoon, ultimately falling 4–3 to Vanguard at VU Soccer Field.
The Warriors (2-5-3, 0-1-0 PacWest) struck first in the eighth minute when Julius Oehmichen set up Cole Lomeli for a clinical finish to take an early 1–0 lead. However, Vanguard (2-5-1, 1-0-0 PacWest) responded just 35 seconds later to level the score, initiating a three-goal first-half run that sent Westmont into the locker room trailing 3–1 at the break.
"We did really well to go ahead early and played good soccer, but we lacked intensity in transition from attack to defense," said Westmont Head Coach Morgan Cathey. "We lacked intensity in the duels needed to cement our foothold in the game. Hats off to Vanguard—they are very good at what they do, and they punished us when we turned the ball over. We can't go into matches thinking we can win if we concede three goals in the first half based on our own mistakes and a lack of diligence in possession."
Westmont made key adjustments in the second half, injecting energy off the bench to mount a fierce rally. In the 64th minute, Micah Maljian found substitute Jackson Obleda, who buried a strike to cut the deficit to 3–2. Eight minutes later, Obleda turned provider, feeding Logan Race for the equalizing goal in the 72nd minute to cap off a remarkable comeback and tie the match at 3–3.
"It was a great collective effort to score those goals in the second half," Cathey noted. "Jackson and Logan provided a tremendous amount of energy and effort to get into those scoring positions."
Despite Westmont's second-half momentum, Vanguard found the game-winner in the 84th minute when Xavier Alcantar scored to put the hosts back in front for good.
Looking ahead, Cathey highlighted the standard needed as conference play progresses: "Shifting our focus, we obviously need to be much better than we were today. We can't expect to just show up and let our soccer win for us. We have to bring a lot more passion, determination, and intensity alongside our technical ability. That is a huge challenge for our guys moving forward."
Westmont returns home to Thorrington Field on Saturday, September 26, when they host Dominican for their PacWest home opener.
