When Peter Schmetz attempts a bicycle kick, that is one long leg flying forward to strike the ball.
The 6-foot-6 freshman from Germany showed great athleticism by scoring on the acrobatic play to help Westmont College defeat William Jessup 3-1 Saturday on the final day of the Azusa Pacific Cougar Classic.
Dan Sargent started the sequence by heading the ball in Schmetz’s direction. The tall forward threw his body in the air and kicked the ball over his head, looping it over the goalkeeper and inside the far post.
“To see Peter launch himself into the air with his big lanky frame showed a good bit of athleticism. It was a spectacular goal,” said Westmont coach Dave Wolf, whose team is off to a 2-0 start in 2010.
Schmetz’s goal gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead in the 12th minute. They scored in the 10th minute on an own goal. Doug Harrell crossed the ball and it was knocked in by a Jessup player
“While it is always nice to get an early goal, it was just kind of odd,” said Wolf.
“The guys did a real nice job in the first half with some nice passing sequences. We kept the ball and got forward very well. We couldn’t quite find that third goal, but I was pleased with the sharpness that we had even after the second goal,” said Wolf
Westmont got its third goal in the 60th minute off a corner kick from Scott Williams. The ball bounced at the far post and Anthony Strunz was there to put it away.
William Jessup got on the scoreboard in the 63rd minute when Jose Ramirez chipped the ball over Westmont goalkeeper Sean Linn.
?”It would have been nice to finish 3-0,” said Wolf, “but we gave up a sloppy goal, and that left a little bit of a bad taste in our mouths. Maybe that will help keep us sharp in training this week.”
Westmont received some good news regarding Rick McCarthy, who left Thursday’s game with an injury.
“It turns out that the problem Rick had was more of a hamstring problem than a knee problem,” said Wolf. “He was actually available to play today. We chose not to play him because he didn’t feel 100 percent confident. We are anticipating having him back in training on Tuesday and hopefully available for the weekend.”
Westmont will host the Heritage Club Classic on Friday and Saturday at Thorrington Field. At 1:30 on Friday, Azusa Pacific will take on Holy Names, with Westmont and La Verne taking the pitch at 4. On Saturday, Azusa Pacific will play La Verne at 1:30 and Westmont will face Holy Names at 4.
