On Tuesday afternoon, Westmont Men’s Soccer (1-1-1) welcomed the Leopards of La Verne (0-0-1) to Thorrington Field for the Warriors’ home opener. The two teams played to a 2-2 tie.
La Verne struck first, with Isaiah Barber scoring in the third minute after a pass along the ground from Kevin Arreola who was on the left side.
In the 29th minute, Westmont found the equalizer when a pair of freshmen teamed up for the Warriors’ first goal. Julius Oehmichen dribbled clear of a defender just above the 18-yard box, then served the ball forward. Donovan Espino headed the ball backward, lobbing it over the Leopards’ goalkeeper and into the net.
La Verne recaptured the lead in the 51st minute. Aiden Tapia-Palacios served a ball from the left side of the 18-yard box across the face of the goal. At the far post, Diego Soto headed the cross into the goal.
The Warriors’ second equalizer came from Cooper Matthews in the 63rd minute. From the center of the pitch, Leonel Olivo Ortiz sent a ball to Matthews near the right touch line. Matthews dribbled toward the goal, beat a defender, planted his right foot at 20 yards outs, fired with his left foot and planted the ball in the right-hand crease.
Asked about the objective of the game against a Division III opponent, head coach Morgan Cathey replied, “The game played out the way we had hoped. This game was to provide opportunities to see players we haven’t seen yet. I think that was important not just for us to see them, but for them to see themselves performing and having a chance to contribute against a really good opponent.”
“La Verne is a good Division III school that is built more or less like a Division II school. They have a lot of transfers and a lot of older guys including grad players. It feels like a mature team that we played against and that was a good opportunity for our guys to play against a good, mature team.
“Before the start of conference play, you only have a few weeks to see guys and there were nine guys that didn’t get to travel the first weekend. That was a challenge for us because we would have loved to have had some of those guys as part of those games and had an opportunity to see them play and contribute.
“This was the only day that La Verne could play, which was good for us because it provided the opportunity at the right moment in time.
“There are not many teams that are adding games to give everyone the opportunity to contribute. You can see that our structure matches our substance. If we say we are about development, if we say we are about giving opportunities to guys to see the pathway that is ahead of them, then we have to actually have to do that.
“I didn’t quite realize until the game started that we started five first- and second- year guys. Pretty much every guy that played today did very well for themselves. Maybe one or two guys would want their performance back, or their chance back, and they will get another one, but I saw a lot of really good things.
“We were patient once we settled into the game to move them the way we wanted to move them and were patient to get the ball into really good spots.
“The biggest takeaway for me is that once we got the ball in those spots, we were wasteful. We had patience and purpose in the first phase, but in the second phase we weren’t as good as we needed to be. This is an area that the first three games have shown us we need to work on.”
“I thought Corban Kuhn and Logan Race were both awesome. Jasper Ring came in for his first minutes of the season and did really well; same with Jordan Cruijff-Beane – both those guys are coming back from injury. I thought Jordan marshalled and controlled the game the way he can. He looked like he was getting back to himself.
“Donovan is a player who was probably the one we wanted to bring this last trip because he has added something a little bit different to our front line. Donovan holds the ball so well, links so well, and he presses really well. These first three weeks, he has earned everything he has gotten. We are excited to see him continue to grow and continue to contribute for us this season. The combination he and Julius had on the goal was outstanding.”
The Warriors head to Washington for their next two games. First, Westmont will take on Seattle Pacific on Thursday. Then, the Warriors will travel 86 miles north on Interstate 5 to Bellingham to face off with Western Washington on Saturday.