Westmont gave top-seeded Fresno Pacific a good battle before the host Sunbirds scored a game-winning goal with 45 seconds left in regulation to pull out a 2-1 win in the first round of the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s soccer tournament on Wednesday at Ramirez Field.
Paul Islas headed in a deep service from Chris Young to beat the eighth-seeded Warriors (3-12-1).
Fresno Pacific out-shot the Warriors 32-7 but trailed 1-0 at halftime. Nana Akyen gave Westmont the lead in the 22nd minute, scoring from 10 yards after a long throw-in from Zach George deflected off a defender right to his feet.
The Warriors defended like crazy and goalkeeper Andrew Singer came up big several times to keep the Sunbirds at bay.
Fresno Pacific (12-5) finally broke through in the 60th minute on a free kick. Islas found Luke Tyler for the equalizer.
On the game-winner, Islas got his head to the ball and knocked it over Singer’s head.
