Nana Akyen redeemed himself after missing a penalty kick by scoring an unassisted goal in the 88th minute to lift Westmont to a 3-2 men’s soccer win over La Sierra on Monday at Thorrington Field.
With the scored tied, Akyen was taken down in the penalty box in the 87th minute. His PK was stopped by La Sierra goalkeeper Wade Dixon.
Forty-two seconds later, Akyen got the ball in the box again, fought off two defenders while dribbling from left to right and beat Dixon with a shot to the left side of the goal.
“There are a lot of players that would not have responded to having a PK saved in the way that Nana did,” said Westmont coach Dave Wolf.
“The comeback feels good,” acknowledged Wolf. “We have been in this situation a lot. You never want to get used to it, but knowing that you can manage it is another part of the experience. I thought the guys played a good second half.”
Westmont played a strong second half, scoring all three of its goals. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Ben Gerald got the Warriors even in the 57th minute off an assist from Akyen.
Gerald gave Westmont a 2-1 lead in the 69th minute, beating the La Sierra goalkeeper one on one. Sean Siemens got the assist.
“I think you saw some character from the team as a whole and I think you saw it in Gerald and Nana as it related to tucking away their chances,” said Wolf.
La Sierra tied the score when Ruben Solis scored from inside the box in the 78th minute.
Westmont outshot La Sierra 12-4 in the second half and 21-11 for the game. The Warriors also had a 5-1 edge in corner kicks in the final 45 minutes and 12-4 for the game.
Westmont is 2-2 on the season and La Sierra 4-4.
