After experiencing an offensive drought on Wednesday and playing to a scoreless double-overtime tie against #3 Marymount, Westmont Men’s Soccer (3-1-1) experienced an El Nino effect on a hot, muggy Saturday afternoon at Thorrington Field. Though the heavens never opened with water from above, a deluge of Warrior goals proved to be as refreshing, and as needed, as a summer storm would have been.
The aftermath of the event, was a sweet smelling 7-1 victory over Sierra Nevada (1-5), which is fielding a men’s soccer team for the first time.
The leading edge of the front came through in the 10th minute of play. Launching a corner kick from the northwest sector, senior midfielder Tanner Wolf found sophomore forward Kolby McInally who punched it into the net from 12 yards out.
Over the next 20 minutes, a swirl of activity was gathering strength over the Warriors’ western half of the field while calm settled over the eastern territory. Then lightning arched across the field in the form of a pass from senior midfielder Blake Joyner to Wolf at the top of the 18. Wolf redirected the bolt’s energy toward the net, giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
In an effort to avoid more strikes, Sierra Nevada suffered an own goal, misdirecting a header into, instead of away from, the net.
Lightening can be tricky like that, just ask Westmont keeper Josh Glover who in the 40th minute, mishandled a ball and had it zapped from his possession for an empty-net goal by Thomas Alt. The result was a 3-1 lead at halftime.
When the teams switched sides after the brief respite, the wind changed direction as well to a more easterly direction. As in the first half, a strike from the foot of Wolf – this time from the northeastern corner – punctuated the air with energy and found the head of Brandon Talsma as he rushed for the near post. A flick of the head midair resulted in a 4-1 Warrior advantage.
Before the storm finished blowing through Thorrington Field, it would inflict more damage on the Eagles in the form of three more goals. In the 77th minute, junior Wilton Quintero blasted home a penalty kick. Five minutes later, freshman Asher Booth found himself one-on-one with the Eagle’s keeper and lofted the ball over the goalies’ head into a welcoming net. In the 89th minute, Booth dribbled past the keeper and, with the lightest of touch, shepherded the ball home.
In the end, the Warriors had pooled together seven goals with Wolf making contributions on three of them – two assists and one goal.
The Warriors will get a week off before hoping to stir up some inclement weather to the north. Next Saturday, the Warriors will conclude the non-conference season in a seven o’clock game at Fresno Pacific. I hear they could use some rain in the Central Valley as well.
