Westmont’s Brandon Talsma scored the game-winner on Saturday.
Westmont Men’s Soccer (5-4-1, 2-2 GSAC) capped a two-day celebration with a 1-0 Golden State Athletic Conference win over Arizona Christian (2-5-1, 1-3). Over the weekend, the Warriors celebrated the 50th anniversary of Westmont’s first varsity men’s soccer game as well as a half-century of Westmont Soccer.
Westmont’s Brandon Talsma scored the lone goal in the 50th minute of play.
“Tim Hieduk made the key play in the sequence,” noted Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “The ball was running away from him a little bit, but he sensed the pressure and slipped a first time ball to Tanner (Wolf) in between a couple of defenders.
“Tanner got the ball in a good spot with a little bit of time to get turned. Brandon is an intelligent runner out front. Arizona Christian had been playing a high line and caught us offside a few times. But this time, our guys got the timing right and Brandon took the chance. The execution from those three was really good.”
Goalkeeper Josh Glover picked up his third shutout of the season, tallying two saves in the process.
Next up, the Warriors will host #18 The Master’s (8-2-1, 2-1) on Wednesday at Thorrington Field.
Saturday’s game, however, was only the final piece of a remarkable weekend. Alumni enjoyed breakfast and golf on Friday morning before meeting for the main event that night.
On Friday evening, 170 alumni, family and friends gathered at the Cabrillo Arts Center for a celebration featuring recollections and musings from all four of the men who have coached the Warriors for the past half-century.
Jerry Huhn, who was the Warriors’ coach during their inaugural season of 1965, told of being hired as head coach even though he didn’t have any soccer experience.
“When I hung up the phone from accepting the position, I realized I had never seen a soccer match in my life.”
Huhn, who had been a collegiate javelin thrower at Westmont, told of getting in his car and driving to East Los Angeles to look for a soccer game to watch. After that, he studied the game at the library, bought a soccer ball and then met up with some fellow track and field athletes to figure out how to kick a soccer ball.
Within a couple of weeks, Huhn met his team, which included halfback Cliff Lundberg, who would serve as team captain. Despite an inauspicious start, the Warriors had remarkable success. At the end of the season, the Warriors found themselves playing against UCLA for a spot in NCAA Division I playoffs. Though UCLA would win the game, the Warriors finished the season with a record of 5-2-5 and Lundberg was named to the All-Pacific Coast NCAA First Team.
In the second year of the program, Russ Carr began his 17 year tenure as the Warriors’ head coach. Carr, who accumulated a record of 202-106-31, was unable to attend the event due to the ill-health of his wife Sue.
However, Carr sent both an audio message and a spokesman in Westmont alumnus Casey Roberts. Carr also prepared a 13-page document filled with remembrances of his time at Westmont. The Warriors won the NAIA National Championship in 1972 under Carr while posting a record of 16-1-1.
Roberts told of the depth of faith that he witnessed in Russ and Sue and how it impacted generations of young men at Westmont.
Carr’s influence at Westmont continues to be felt. After leaving Westmont, the Carrs established Sports Outreach Institute (SOI), a Christian ministry which reaches out to third world countries through the vehicle of sport. Westmont Women’s Soccer has made three trips to Africa to serve alongside the SOI ministry. This past summer, Westmont Women’s Basketball traveled to Uganda with SOI.
Alex Stephens took the podium to introduce the Warriors’ third coach, Bob Fortosis. Stephens noted that through Fortosis’ faith, “he imparted a wisdom that we carry with us today and that we pass on.”
Fortosis, who currently serves as athletic director at Eckerd College in Florida, noted that there are several things that make Westmont a special place. “At Westmont, you don’t have to fight the battle of how athletics is contributing to the mission of the college. That is understood at Westmont.”
Fortosis, who posted a record of 114-45-18 during his eight years at the helm of the Westmont program, also noted that “Warriors understand the difference between ‘good enough’ and ‘excellence’ and between ‘normative’ and ‘distinctive’. Warriors know that what you think is your best, really isn’t.”
He also noted that the “Westmont soccer boys love each other,” noting “the investment of heart that is solely designed to help us be more reflective of the character of Christ.”
Westmont’s fourth and longest tenured coach took the floor next. Dave Wolf, who is in his 25th year, spoke of embarking on a journey of God’s activity in his life. Noting that there have been struggles along the way, Wolf called the struggles “friends, not foes, for they have driven me to the Creator.” He also spoke of seeking to instill in his players the right questions about their own lives and God’s place in them.
After the game, Wolf reflected on the weekend.
“One of the themes that came through to me was a desire, work ethic or heart that has been a part of all 50 years,” said Wolf. “The other is that the results don’t last. In the midst of the season, you think they are really important – and they are for a period of time. But there are other things that stick longer.
“The head coach at The Master’s, Jim Rickard, has been a good friend of mine for a long time. He sent me a quote early on in the season that I think encapsulated what I experienced this weekend. The quote said, ‘Winning is the point, but it is not the purpose.’
“This is a program that has had a lot of quantifiable success over the years. I do think that the purpose, however, is what emerged this weekend, rather than a listing of accomplishments.”
Speaking of the significance of the celebration, Wolf said, “I think there is a little bit of a catalytic opportunity to try and set some courses for the next 50 years. Things that we learned, things we heard, things we thought about in a different way can help set the tone for future generations.
“It was a little bit of returning to the roots. It was so interesting to hear Jerry Huhn talk about the very beginning. There were a lot of things I learned over the course of the weekend that I did not know – and I’ve been around here for a long time. It got me excited about the history of the program.
“So in some ways (this weekend) took us back to the beginning, but it also got us thinking about what we want the next 25 years to look like.”
