A few lineup changes reinvigorated the Westmont men’s soccer team as the Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Arizona Christian on Saturday at Thorrington Field.
Issac Veenstra, Patrick Wynne and Jonathan Yeeles scored for the Warriors, who evened their GSAC record to 3-3 and raised the season mark to 7-5.
“It was simply time to change things up a bit to take pressure off of some of our guys who have been playing a lot of minutes,” said Westmont assistant coach Johnny Whallon. “We believe that we have a deep bench and an assortment of guys who can play a plethora of positions, and I think both of those traits were on display today.”
Among the changes, senior Andrew Singer got the start in goal over Josh Glover, sophomore Muhammad Mehai was shifted over to right back from his usual center back slot, sophomore Brandon Talsma was relocated from the right side to left back, and Wynne got his first start of the year at the center back position.
The tuning to Mehai and Talsma factored immensely into the offensive game plan as well. Repeatedly the duo flanked the defense, dispatching cross after cross into the Firestorm penalty area, championing a Warriors’ offense that created 27 shots on the day.
The Warriors held ACU to 12 shots overall, three of which were on goal. However, the Firestorm did convert on two nontraditional goal scoring chances as Carlos Villa scored from practically the midfield stripe in the fifth minute, and added a penalty kick goal in the 78th minute.
Westmont’s first goal came in the 43rd minute as Veenstra directed a header into the net off a free kick from sophomore Tanner Wolf.
The team rode this momentum into the second half as the Warriors scored two goals in the first two minutes and two seconds of the period to make it three goals in four minutes and 26 seconds of play.
The second and third goals were scored by Wynne and Yeeles, with Wynne guiding a header across the line after a corner kick from senior Nana Akyen, and Yeeles notching a tally from five yards out after a blocked attempt from senior Cody Howen.
“To score three goals in four and a half minutes really showed acuity from us,” declared Whallon. “The guys really took ownership at the half. Our captains (seniors Marcos Lopez, Rick McCarthy, and Sean Siemens) showed terrific leadership, and (freshman midfielder) Wilton (Quintero) did very well for us in the middle. It was such a contrast to their response in our last game against Concordia. It wasn’t really what we said as coaches, it was the guys.”
