Westmont College Athletics

By Ron Smith
September 5, 2026
 
(BELLINGHAM, Wash.) Western Washington (4-0) extended its winning streak at the expense of Westmont Men's Soccer (1-3-1) on Saturday evening. After a scoreless first half, the Warriors fell to the Vikings by a score of 0-2.
 
In the first half, Westmont took 11 shots, four of which were on goal, to Western Washington's 8, two of which were on target. However, in the second half, the Vikings doubled up Westmont's shot total 10-5, including posting a 4-2 on-goal advantage.
 
"I think we had a good application today of what we wanted to do in the game plan that we had," said Westmont Men's Soccer head coach Morgan Cathey. "For us to produce as many chances as we did, for us to control the territory in the game, I thought we did really well in the first half. We made maybe one or two errors that led to chances for the opponent, but I don't think they created much in the first half.
 
"It was a little bit frustrating for us that we hadn't produced a goal out of all the good things that we had done," acknowledged Cathey of the first half.
 
"I thought we started the second half really well," reflected Cathey. "There were moments that it looked like we were really going to score. Then they found a good opportunity and we didn't defend the box well enough. We missed two or three opportunities to end the play and win a duel. Eventually, not being decisive in our defensive actions led to the ball bouncing to a player that was able to hit a really good first-time finish."
 
The first goal came in the 63rd minute off the foot of Ezrah Ochoa. Edwin Diaz brought the ball to the top of the 18 before Tommy Carroll touched it forward to Ochoa whose shot went into the right corner.
 
"After that, we lacked discipline for sure," reported Cathey. "I think we let the frustration of the environment, the opponent, the referee, get the best of us and sure enough we didn't hold to our values. Because of that we were down to 10 men."
 
The reduction in player staff was the result of a red card issued in the 82nd minute to Barrett Goodman.
 
In the 89th minute, the Vikings added a goal by Carroll. A shot by Julian Herring was blocked by Westmont goalkeeper Aidan Strickler. However, the ball came out to Lunden Fenster on the right side. Fenster passed it to Carroll in the box, who touched the ball inside the near post.
 
"We had some really good performances from guys and I think the last couple games we can't fault our work ethic," added Cathey. "We worked so hard, we defended so well throughout the game, and we produced a lot of really good attacking moments. Our final decision wasn't good enough today and our final action just wasn't quite sharp enough in the last two games. We come away from this weekend knowing exactly what we need to work on and excited for the CCAA gauntlet that comes these next three games."
 
The Warriors return home to take on the Pioneers of Cal State East Bay at Thorrington Field on Wednesday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. Then on Saturday, September 12, Westmont will host Cal State Los Angeles. The third CCAA opponent will be at Cal State San Marcos on Monday, September 14.