In an all too familiar twist of fate Saturday afternoon in El Cajon, Westmont Men’s Soccer (8-6, 4-4 GSAC) once again experienced an overtime defeat dealt by Golden State Athletic Conference foe #18 San Diego Christian (12-2-2, 5-1-2 GSAC), this time by a final of 1-0.
The Warriors failed to find their groove on offense, struggling mightily up front throughout the entire match. “We weren’t able to get a lot going offensively,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “San Diego Christian is a good team, so their defense had something to do with that for sure, but it wasn’t a game in which we had a lot of people unleashed in the offensive third.”
Throughout the first half, the Hawk’s stifling defense only allowed three shots. In the second, the Warriors regressed, tallying only one additional shot attempt in route to their lowest full game total on the season – four.
Even with the lackluster showing on offense, the Warriors’ defense played lights out.
Overall, Westmont held San Diego Christian to a respectable 13 shot total, with goalkeeper Josh Glover adding six saves.
Level at zero in the 96th minute, Hawks’ forward Neil Keith received a pass from teammate Papa Coundul and headed toward goal in breakaway fashion where slid a ball under the outstretched Glover to seal the game.
“We had a huge opportunity that we weren’t able to capitalize on today, so that’s disappointing,” voiced Wolf. Heading into the match, SDCC held second place in the GSAC with 14 points (three points for a win, one for a tie), while Westmont was in a third place tie with Biola, each with 12 points.
“As a team, we think it’s unfortunate the way the game ended, but we are going to do everything we can to keep our guys feeling positive about our prospects,” stated a proud Wolf. “Our guys played their hearts out today. To push that team into overtime twice this year is impressive. They haven’t lost at home in conference play for two years.”
“We need to set our sights on Wednesday and do everything that we can to get a win and secure a first round playoff game at home,” exclaimed Wolf.
