Westmont Men’s Soccer (7-4-2, 2-4-1 GSAC) saw an early lead turn into a 2-1 deficit in less than 60 seconds during the second half of an eventual loss to San Diego Christian (5-7-4, 2-4-1). For only the second time in seven GSAC games, the Warriors got on the board in first, as opposed to playing from behind as they have in recent weeks.
However, after getting on the board first, Westmont conceded two goals to the Hawks during the 60th and 61st minutes of action, allowing San Diego to go on and win 2-1.
“Today, we played for much bigger purposes than winning and losing,” shared Coach Johnny Whallon. “The team showed courage and composure over a very difficult set of circumstances in the last 24 hours. I am beyond proud of the team for sticking together and competing the right way.”
During the first-45 Westmont did not surrender a shot on the goal, allowing Westmont’s offense time to search for the game’s first score. Then, in the 29th minute, Erik Guerrero continued to create opportunities for the Warriors when he found an open Landon Amaral for a shot at keeper Mark Cardenas.
From there, Amaral deposited his fourth goal of the season to give the Warriors the initial advantage.
While the Hawks did not once threaten keeper Abraham Arteaga in the first half, the second half saw the Hawks challenge the goalie less than two minutes into the second. Luckily, for Westmont, Arteaga was able to reject the first shot from the Hawks. Unfortunately, in the 60th minute, Westmont would not be so lucky.
First, in minute 60, SDC’s Andrija Mihajlovic assisted an eventual equalizer to James William. William’s fourth goal of the season tied the match at one. Then, 59 seconds later, matters grew only worse for the Warriors. Less than a minute after William’s scored the equalizer, the scorer passed to an open Arie Boersma for a shot at Arteaga.
With only the second goal of his freshman campaign, Boersma found the back of the net to turn the game upside down. After leading for half an hour, Westmont saw their advantage turn into a deficit in less than one minute.
In the final 30 minutes of action the Warriors put four more shots on goal, but were unable to sneak one past Cardenas, who collected five saves en route to the win. In the end, Westmont out-shot SDC 17-9 and 6-3 on frame, but the Hawks made one more of the attempts show up on the scoreboard.
Now, with two games left in the season, Westmont is currently tied for seventh in the GSAC standings with San Diego Christian, with both teams two points back of The Master’s (5-8-2, 3-4) for the sixth and final spot in the GSAC Tournament.
Next week, the Hawks play at Hope International (10-1-4, 5-0-2) and Life Pacific (1-14, 0-7), while the Mustangs host Menlo (7-3-5, 3-1-3,) and William Jessup (4-8-3, 1-5-1).
On Thursday at 3:15 p.m., Westmont will host William Jessup, and on Saturday, Westmont will host Menlo for Senior Day at 12:30 p.m.
Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.
email: sports@newspress.com
