(ROCKLIN, Calif.) A goal in the 72nd minute by Tanner Wolf ended a seesaw battle in Rocklin, giving Westmont Men’s Soccer (7-5-2, 4-3-1 GSAC) a 3-2 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over William Jessup on Saturday afternoon.
“We found a way to win,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf, “which was the top priority. After the third goal, we managed well the last 15 minutes of the game to preserve the win.”
Wolf’s game winner was made possible by a bullet of a serve by Matt Lariviere.
“Matt played a ball across the face of the goal with enough speed to prevent the keeper from getting to it,” described Wolf. “Tanner tapped it in with the inside of his left foot.”
Westmont’s first goal came in just the second minute of the game off the foot of Muhammad Mehai.
“Brandon Talsma had a throw in,” reported the coach. “Mo was able to get to it and volley a quality shot into the top corner.”
William Jessup – also nicknamed the “Warriors” – answered Westmont’s early goal in the 31st minute when Jose Hernandez scored, assisted by Conner Entz.
In the 52nd minute, Westmont took the league back on a goal created and scored by a pair of freshman.
“Dash Wulterin started today because Wilton Quintero was ineligible due to the accumulation of yellow cards in previous games,” noted Wolf. “He and Asher Booth combined for the second goal, giving us production we had not experienced before.
“We turned (Jessup) over on the edge of their defending third. Dash reacted quickly and slipped the ball to Asher whose left-footed ball strike went in the goal.
“We got a nice lift from a lot of our first year players today,” said Wolf. “In addition to Dash and Asher, Tim Heiduk, Sam Martin, Jeremiah Anderson and Gabe Thurner all made significant contributions today. For Gabe, this was by far his most impactful performance. He brought life and energy to the field.”
In the 55th minute, Jessup found another equalizer to tie the score at two. This time Hernandez provided the assist to goal scorer Justin Soria.
Seventeen minutes later, Westmont went ahead for good.
With the win, Westmont clinches a berth in the GSAC Tournament, which will begin on Friday, November 6. Currently, Westmont is in fourth place in the GSAC standings – a position that would earn them a first round home game in the postseason tournament.
Westmont will close out the regular season next week with a road game against Hope International on Tuesday and a home game against San Diego Christian on Saturday. Both contests begin at noon.
