Despite such a great regular season which saw the Westmont men’s soccer team finish GSAC play undefeated for the first time in 30 years, the Warriors could not make any magic happen on Tuesday, losing to Hastings (Neb.) 2-0 in the NAIA Round of 16.
Seeded No. 3, Westmont had enjoyed a long break as before Tuesday the team had not played a game since Nov. 13 when it lost 3-0 in the conference tournament to OUAZ.
The Warriors played like a team that had not seen the pitch during game action in a while, totaling 13 shots, two more than the Broncos, but only one of them was on goal.
Senior goalkeeper Edward “Lalo” Delgado tallied two saves in the first half to keep Hastings from scoring and keep the match a 0-0, but in the second half, the Broncos finally broke through.
In the 68th minute, Lukas Goetz took a clean pass from Tom Sterling and finished from eight yards out to jump in front 1-0.
Over the course of the next 21 minutes, Westmont put together seven shots but only one was on target and was saved by the Bronco goalkeeper. Three of them came in the 88th and 89th minute, but none would find the back of the net for the equalizer.
With about 33 seconds left, the Broncos had a fastbreak opportunity and capitalized at Goetz scored his second goal of the game to seal the victory.
Delgado finished with four saves as Hastings led the game in corner kicks (5-4) and committed fewer fouls throughout the contest (22-16).
The Broncos will move on to play William Penn on Saturday while Westmont’s season ends at 13-3-1.
email: jmercado@newspress.com
