A lone goal in the 82nd minute was all that 12th-ranked Azusa Pacific needed to beat Westmont in a Golden State Athletic Conference soccer match on Tuesday.
Lucas Young headed in a ball off a corner kick by John Tribbey for the winning goal.
Westmont fell to 2-7-1 and 1-2-1 in the GSAC. Azusa is 8-2-1, 2-1-1.
Despite the loss, Westmont coach Dave Wolf liked how his team played.
“I think we played relatively well,” said Wolf. “We tried a couple of different things in terms of our lineup and got a couple of responses out of those. We’re still struggling to create a lot of goal scoring chances. In a sport where scoring is hard, we are putting a lot of pressure on our team defensively.”
Azusa Pacific outshot Westmont 18-5, but Wolf said the game was not as lopsided as one might think.
“I think quite the contrary,” he said. “I thought at times it was a very even game. I thought we got out and played and didn’t just sit in and tried to hold on at all.”
Junior goalkeeper Matt McNab tallied seven saves for Westmont, starting for the first time since August 27.
“It was a very solid performance,” said Wolf of McNab. “He was ready for the opportunity he got in the Concordia game to come on in the second half and also did real well today. He made a really sharp save early, which was important. Then a couple of real good saves late.”
Wolf was also pleased with the play of senior Zach George.
“We moved Zach into the midfield to try and get a little more athletic in that part of the field,” said Wolf. “I thought he had a very good game. We like the feel of that and I think we will keep moving that direction.
In other GSAC action, #9 Concordia defeated San Diego Christian 4-1 while The Master’s won at Hope International by the same score. Fresno Pacific also picked up a road victory, defeating #21 Biola 3-1.
