The NAIA fourth-ranked Westmont Men’s Soccer team (9-1, 3-0 GSAC) blanked the Vanguard Lions (7-4, 2-1 GSAC) 3-0 to remain unbeaten in conference play. It was the Warriors’ first home victory over Vanguard since 2013.
“Vanguard has had our number for a while now and there was going to be a psychological barrier to have to deal with,” noted Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “The big takeaway for me is that we were a team that capitalized on the opponent’s mistakes. That was the story today, when a couple of errors got made by them, we were ruthless in converting those into scores.”
The Warriors scored their first goal in the 13th minute after a series of deflections off both team’s players that eventually landed the ball at the foot of Samuel Tuscano. His ensuing shot bounced off a defender and redirected the ball into the net for a 1-0 Westmont lead.
“The quality in the first goal was Christian Webb’s service. Sam Tuscano got to it and he deserves credit for getting a foot on it,” explained Wolf. “It was some fortune, though, that last deflection.”
Westmont was able to double its lead when Vanguard failed to clear a ball in the Warrior half. Midfielder Jona Romero collected it and found Owen Bates, and the sophomore from Santa Barbara blasted one into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
Twenty-three seconds later, senior Lucky Puengrod scored on a nifty dribble move in front of the box and banged home a shot for a 3-0 lead.
The Warriors hunkered down for the final 45 minutes and chalked up their sixth shutout of the season.
The Warriors remain at home for a game Wednesday versus Hope International.