COSTA MESA — Westmont Men’s Soccer (7-4-2, 4-2-2) didn’t find what it was looking for in Costa Mesa on Tuesday as the Warriors dropped a Golden State Athletic Conference game against Vanguard (8-6-1, 4-3-1) by a score of 2-0. The Warriors had hoped to improve its claim on a first round bye in the upcoming GSAC Tournament, but instead were dealt a serious blow to those chances.
The Warriors had trouble generating offensive chances and eventually gave way in a game that started with more than 78 minutes of scoreless soccer. Westmont was outshot 14-8 and placed only four shots on goal compared to Vanguard’s seven.
Vanguard’s first goal came in the 79th minute when Jesus Fregoso shot from outside the box on the left side and put the ball in the upper right corner. With seconds remaining on the clock, Brian Pautausso added another goal from 21 yards out to seal the deal.
As a result, Westmont falls into fourth place in the GSAC standings with 14 points (three points for a win, one for a tie). Despite the loss, the Warriors remain ahead of fifth place Vanguard who has 13 points. Just ahead of Westmont in third place is The Master’s (8-6-1, 5-2-1) who was idle today but claims 16 points.
#22 Hope International (12-3-1) remains on top of the conference standings with 21 points despite suffering its first conference loss to Concordia (9-3-2, 5-1-2) today by a score of 2-1. Concordia is in second place with 17 points.
Only two games remain in the GSAC regular season as teams seek to position themselves for the GSAC Tournament. The top two teams will receive byes in the first round with the third and fourth seeded teams hosting the sixth and fifth seeded teams respectively. First round play begins on Wednesday, November 5.
On Saturday, Westmont will host its final regular season home game by welcoming the Eagles of Biola to Thorrington Field for a 2:30 p.m. game. Then on Wednesday, October 29, the Warriors will travel to Rocklin to take on William Jessup in the regular season finale.
