RIO GRANDE, Ohio – For Wilton Quintero, it was his second successful penalty kick in as many days. For Westmont Men’s Soccer (2-1), it meant coming back to Santa Barbara with a “W”. Quintero’s PK also served as the golden goal, giving Westmont a 2-1 overtime victory over Park Point of Pennsylvania (2-2).
“It was obviously good to find a way to win today,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “It was a difficult day coming back at four o’clock today after the game last night. We made six changes to the starting line-up, trying to put on some fresh legs and save the guys who had played some heavy minutes.”
Westmont took the lead in the 21st minute on the first collegiate goal by freshman Asher Booth.
“Dash Wultrain played a clever little ball over the top on the left hand side,” reported Wolf. “Asher picked up the ball wide on the left flank and went on a great solo dribble toward the top of the box. He cut in, got it on his right foot and let one fly. He definitely has some individual ability.”
At about the 30 minute mark, Wolf began inserting onto the field players who had started the game the day before. The score remained the same, however, until the 64th minute when Bryan Kalaka provided the equalizer.
“They got on top of us a little bit in the second half,” acknowledged Wolf. “Kalaka finished the left-footed shot in the center of the box from about 12 yards out.”
Six minutes later, Wolf entered the only starter from Friday’s game that had not yet taken the field.
“We did not play Tanner (Wolf) until the 70th minute,” said Wolf, citing an injury experienced the day before. “I had told him that we weren’t going to use him unless we were tied late. That was the situation we ended up in and I put him on (the field). Then we started to get a little bit more of the ball and started getting forward a little bit more. That carried over to the overtime period.
“Tanner played a ball out right to Yazi (Hernandez). Yazi served it into the box and created a little bit of a goal mouth scramble. Tanner got to the ball and headed it on goal. The keeper got beat, but one of Park Point’s players handled the ball on the goal line to keep it out. That resulted in a penalty kick and straight red card. Wilton was cool and calm and like he did the previous night, converted the PK.”
The win helps build the Warriors 2015 resume, which the team hopes will eventually earn them a trip to the national tournament at season’s end.
“All in all, we pushed the number five team into extra time and we beat a team receiving votes in the national poll,” said Wolf. “I think we experienced what we wanted to experience, which was a national tournament simulation – both in terms of quality opponents and playing on back-to-back days.”
The team will have little time to rest before their next challenge – taking on third ranked Marymount on Wednesday evening at Los Angeles Harbor College. Marymount reached the national semifinals last season.
“Wednesday is going to be hard,” admitted Wolf. “We will be on the road all day tomorrow, probably give the guys the day off on Monday, have light training on Tuesday and get back on the road on Wednesday.”
Next Saturday, Westmont returns to Thorrington Field for a home game against first-year program Sierra Nevada.
