Westmont’s Samuel Tusano, center, goes for the ball in between Point Loma’s Tim Siegfried, left, and Corey Lundeen before scoring the lone goal for the Warriors in their 2-1 loss on Wednesday.
Goals at the end of the first half and at the start of the second were enough for Point Loma to spoil Westmont College’s men’s soccer opener, 2-1, at Thorrington Field on Wednesday.
The Sea Lions (2-0), coached by the brother of Westmont coach Dave Wolf, took a 2-0 lead before the Warriors finally found the net in the 57th minute.
“It’s always fun to play against him,” Point Loma’s Phil Wolf said. “There are certain aspects that I like when we play him, and certain aspects I don’t like when we play.
“He always has a good, tough team, and he is a good coach, but yeah it’s always nice getting a win.”
Both teams took nine shots, but the Sea Lions had a 5-3 edge in on-goal attempts.
“Today was a tough, hard, scrappy, game but that’s what it’s like on the road sometimes,” Phil Wolf said. “I’m proud of our guys. They fought hard and came away with a win.”
Westmont took six shots — two on goal — and had two corners during the first half. But the match turned when Point Loma’s Tim Siegfried was fouled in the box with just 50 seconds left before halftime. He made the penalty kick to send the Sea Lions into the locker room with the lead.
Siegfried assisted Hunter Loomis for Point Loma’s second goal during the sixth minute of the second half.
Samuel Tuscano scored for the Warriors seven minutes later to trim their deficit to 2-1, but it was their last shot on goal.
Westmont will return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Fresno Pacific.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
POINT LOMA 1, WESTMONT 0
The Warriors remained scoreless on the season while losing their second-straight road match, 1-0.
The Sea Lions (2-0), an NCAA Division 2 power coached by former Westmont All-American Kristi Kiely, out-shot the Warriors 14-6 and 7-4 with their attempts on goal.
The Warriors (0-2) put just one shot on frame in the second half and were out-shot 12-2 in the last 50 minutes.
“I thought they got the better of us in the first half,” Kiely said. “I thought they dominated a lot of the first half.
“I give a lot of credit to our girls for working through it. I thought we got better today, and we got tested today.”
Point Loma scored the match’s lone goal during the second minute of the second half. Naomi Ellis received a pass from Jazmin Valencia on the sideline, took it to the endline, and sent a cross to the far side of the box. Ashlee Watkins punched it in for the goal.
Watkins nearly scored again in the 72nd minute after a corner kick by Mara Sovde, but goalkeeper Kailey Meyer kept it out of the net with a dazzling save. She had three saves in the second half while Gabi Haw recorded two in the first half.
Westmont’s shots on goal came from Grace Hotaling, Isabelle Berthoud, Bri Johnson and Grace Duckens. But Point Loma, which has gone 32-7-3 during Kiely’s two-plus seasons as coach, extended its shutout streak at the PLNU Soccer Field to 505 minutes.
“It’s such a treat to get to play Westmont,” said Kiely, a 2005 graduate of Westmont who is assisted by former Warrior Tanner Wolf. “They’re always a tough opponent, and today was no different.”
The Warriors will play their third-straight road match to start the season on Wednesday when they travel to Biola for a 4 p.m. contest.
email: mpatton@newspress.com
