It was a Homecoming heartbreak for the Westmont men’s soccer team on Saturday.
San Diego Christian scored on a penalty kick in the eighth minute of the first overtime to stun the Warriors 2-1 in a GSAC match at Thorrington Field.
“For us, there’s really no point of making a big deal out of the referee’s cal, that’s out of our control,” Westmont assistant coach Johnny Whallon said. “It was a 50-50 call and he went with what he thought was right.
“There were a lot of positives for us,” he continued. “But, unfortunately, the way it ended was tough to stomach for the guys. We had our chances to win the game but just couldn’t capitalize on them. Even though we controlled the game for most of the second half and overtime, (SDCC) got the goal. There were opportunities before that play that we could have taken advantage of, but that’s just how soccer goes.”
The Warriors struck early in the match when midfielder Rick McCarthy scored on a header from 18 yards off a cross from Brandon Talsma.
San Diego Christian (8-1-1, 1-0-1) scored the equalizer on a goal by Emmanuel Parada in the 41st minute.
Westmont came close to scoring the go-ahead goal in the last 15 seconds of regulation.
A Nana Akyen free kick sailed into the box, where Muhammed Mehai got his head on it. The shot, however, was not strong enough and was covered by the Hawk’s goalkeeper, sending the game into extra time.
Westmont rode it’s momentum from their last-second chance into the OT. Sean Siemens, Jonathan Yeeles, and Akyen all had close shot attempts that barely managed to stay out of goal.
Then, in the 98th minute, SDCC was awarded a penalty kick after a foul was called in the box. The game-winning kick was converted by Pedro Henrique.
It was Westmont’s first GSAC loss.
“There’s a lot for us to keep building with from this result,” said Whallon. “It’s tough to stomach, and a real disappointment, but we know that we can play with every team in the GSAC. We’ll have to have a short-term memory with this and get ready for our game on Tuesday against Hope (International).”
