Westmont’s Wilton Quintero kicked the golden goal for the Warriors. (John Dvorak/Presidio Sports)
Penalty kicks were the deciding factor in Westmont Men’s Soccer’s 1-0 win against #17 The Master’s (8-3-1, 2-2 GSAC). With the win, the Warriors (6-4-1, 3-2) moved into second place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings.
“It is the kind of signature win that this group has been really close to getting but hasn’t quite gotten over the hump,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “Now, we have.”
“I thought The Master’s was very good,” noted Wolf. “Statistically, it turned out fairly even. If I had to judge the run of play, they had the edge. To keep a team that is that good going forward off of the board is a big accomplishment. Defensively, their back four were physically very powerful. It was very difficult to get anything against them.”
The first of the two critical penalty kicks came in the 64th minute after Westmont committed a foul in the box. Jonathan Brown took the shot for the Mustangs and sent a hard shot on the ground toward the left post. Westmont goalkeeper Josh Glover dove to his right and pushed the ball past the goalpost to prevent the score.
“Josh’s greatest strength as a goalkeeper is his big save capability,” asserted Wolf. “He obviously came up with one there. The shot looked reasonably well taken and Josh still got to it. Defending a PK is part anticipation, part quickness and part technic. He needed all three of those to be on hand – and they were. From our lens, it was the key moment of the game. It was a world class reaction and save.”
After the scoreless game reached the end of regulation, the two teams met for the first of two potential overtimes. Under “golden goal” rules, the first team to score would be declared the winner.
The first overtime period started with The Master’s threatening near the Warriors’ goal. However, two corner kicks by the Mustangs failed to yield the winning goal.
In the 96th minute, the Warriors received a corner kick of their own. Wilton Quintero delivered a ball to the front of the net where Genaro Hurtado was waiting. Hurtado’s header was blocked and found the feet of Tanner Wolf. Wolf sent the ball back out to Quintero who lofted it back toward the net. Quintero’s ball was blocked by a Mustang defender. However, the ball bounced off the defender’s hands and the center official blew his whistle for a hand ball in the box.
Quintero took the penalty shot, his sixth attempt of the season, and like all his previous attempts, put the ball in the back of the net.
Game over. Warriors win.
“Wilton is a cool customer,” said Wolf. “Six is a lot of penalty kicks for a team to take in a year. For one guy to have taken all of them and to have made all of them is remarkable.”
Following the game, Wolf identified three individuals as having the biggest impact.
“I thought Josh, Genaro (Hurtado) and Tim (Heiduk) were outstanding,” offered Wolf. “I told Genaro that I thought it was one of the best games he had played in his Westmont career.
“Tim Heidulk was the breakout player of the game for me. He has a really high soccer IQ. It started with him winning balls in the air. The next stage is that he was winning some balls out the ground and got into a passing rhythm. He was a big factor in the game for us.
Westmont will be off until Saturday, October 17 when the host #3 Vanguard (10-1, 4-0) at Thorrington Field.
