Westmont Men’s Soccer (7-5-2, 4-3-2 GSAC) had hoped for a different result on Senior Day at Thorrington Field, but suffered a 2-0 Golden State Athletic Conference loss to Biola (7-5-3, 4-3-2). The Warriors outshot the Eagles 9-6 but placed only two of their shots on goal.
“You can only ask your defense to do so much,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “We have conceded 13 goals in 14 games. However, we don’t have enough quality in the final third of the field. Some of that you can attribute to injury impacts we have experienced, but some of it is just down to people making plays. Today, we didn’t have a shot on goal until the 56th minute. If that is where you are at in a really meaningful game, then that is a tough spot to be in.”
As a result of the loss, Westmont falls into a tie with Biola for fourth place in the GSAC standings. At stake is a home game in the first round of the upcoming GSAC Tournament. The third and fourth place teams are awarded home games and host the sixth and fifth place teams respectively. The top two seeds receive first round byes and host the winners of the first round games in the semifinals.
Both Westmont and Biola have one game left in GSAC regular season play and both will travel to William Jessup (5-8-1, 1-6-1) for that final contest. The Warriors will play in Rocklin on Wednesday while the Eagles will play on Saturday.
Just ahead of the Warriors and Eagles is The Master’s (9-7-1, 5-3-1). The Mustangs will play their final game on Wednesday at San Diego Christian (3-10-1). Lurking just behind the Warriors and Eagles is Vanguard who has two games left in the regular season. Vanguard plays #22 Hope International (13-3-1, 8-1) on Wednesday and Arizona Christian (3-13, 0-9) on Saturday.
Hope International has already clinched the GSAC regular season title while Concordia (10-3-2, 6-1-2) has sown up the number two place and seed.
In today’s game, Biola scored its first goal in the 39th minute when True Tamplin put the ball in the back of the net from 25 yards out on the right side.
The Eagles’ second goal came in the 75th minute. Stephen Tanquary shot from 8 yards out and had the ball deflected by Westmont’s Muhammad Mehai. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the ball rebounded to Joey O’Keefe whose shot from 16 yards out gave Biola a 2-0 lead.
“From an energy and commitment stand point, the second half was pretty good,” said Wolf. “We worked, we fought, we chased, but there was no end product.
“Wilton Quintero sticks in my mind as the outstanding player of the game for us,” continued the coach. “I thought DJ (Daniel Johnsen) played remarkably well for having missed seven weeks. It’s nice to have him back in the game and for him to have a chance to play on senior day.”
The Warriors honored five seniors before the game – Johnsen, Patrick Wynne, Jonathan Yeeles, Sebastian Kent and Cody Howen.
