The stellar goalkeeping of Westmont’s Abraham Arteaga prevented a first-half runaway by the UCSB men’s soccer team in the annual Community Shield Game against the Warriors at Harder Stadium.
Arteaga made several big saves to keep the game scoreless for 42 minutes.
The Gauchos finally beat him in the 43rd on a scramble after a corner kick. They then erupted for three goals in a 22-minute span of the second half en route to a 4-0 exhibition victory.
The night marked the final crosstown game for Westmont coach Dave Wolf, who is retiring at the end of the season after 32 years at the helm.
UCSB honored Wolf before the game.
Wolf said coaching his last Westmont team against the Gauchos wasn’t any different than all the previous meetings at Harder Stadium.
“Honestly, it was like it always is, which is always excited to come here and always feel like it’s a huge honor to get to play in this game. We’re so grateful that UCSB has continued to entertain this possibility, and we know this is a night of big exposure for our group.
“Obviously, I know it’s the last time for me, but that’s not emotionally where I’m at. I’m at the same place that I always am at this time of year: excited for a new season, trying to make my group better.”
UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg, who has been coaching against Wolf’s Warriors since 1999, expressed he appreciation of what Wolf has done for soccer at Westmont and in the community,
“You can’t say enough about somebody who shows up every single day, works extremely hard, always gets his teams ready to play,” said Vom Steeg. “We appreciate the challenge.
“Dave is a great human being. We’ve had a chance to have our kids play together. We come out here and do this every year. He’s not going to be far away, so I know he’ll be at our games and obviously at Westmont.
“This is year 56 of this game and, for an exhibition scrimmage, it’s a great crowd. I think it’s great for Westmont to come over and compete on this field. And, I think it’s great for us to talk about the history of 56 games and keep going.”
The Gauchos were dangerous throughout the first half Saturday, but the play of Arteaga kept them off the scoreboard.
“Abraham in the first half made some terrific saves,” said Wolf.
Before the Gauchos took the lead, he felt his team put together some good scoring chances but seemed tentative to shoot.
“The one thing I was disappointed in is that we had a handful of opportunities to hurt them and we didn’t. In fact, we didn’t even get shots,” he said.
The Gauchos, meanwhile, got off several shots. They had a 26-3 advantage for the game.
Their first goal came after midfielder Alexis Ledoux ripped a shot on frame that Arteaga blocked over the bar.
On the ensuing corner kick, Ledoux put the ball at the top of the 6-yard box, where it was flicked on goal by Henry Davies. The ball got knocked around and appeared to cross the goal-line in the air, but Westmont’s Miguel Alvarado kicked it out.
The ball went to Finn Ballard McBride and he put it away to break the stalemate.
“I’m very happy to perform today, and (for team) to score four goals in front of the fans was very important for us,” said Ledoux. “It was a great team performance overall.”
Despite being frustrated by Arteaga, Ledoux said the Gauchos had the “perfect mentality” to keep pushing through.
Ledoux, a transfer from College of Charleston by way of France, played in the central midfield and was dangerous almost every time he got the ball in space. Time and again in beat defenders with his speed and great ball handling.
The Gauchos scored two goals in a three-minute span in the second half to break the game open.
Chava Aguilar capped a nice sequence of ball movement in the 55th minute, Thaabit Baartman fed Pablo Figueroa on the left wing and Figueroa crossed the ball into the box. Aguilar timed his run perfectly and smashed a header past a helpless Arteaga for a 2-0 lead.
A similar play resulted in the third goal. This time, Lucas Gonzalez passed to Rigoberto Barragan on the left and he crossed to Filip Basili in the box. Basili slammed a header off the cross bar and then headed in the rebound.
Barragan crossed to Aguilar who finished with a flick header to the back post for the fourth goal in the 77th minute.
⚽️ UCSB 2, Westmont 0
No stopping that! Salvador Aguilar takes the perfect cross from Pablo Figueroa to double the @UCSBMensSoccer lead �� pic.twitter.com/OgZOrPZZ4T
— UCSB Athletics (@UCSBathletics) August 21, 2022
Aguilar said the team practices the timing runs on crosses every day.
“We have a new forward coach now, so I get a little more input on the runs I make in the box and on my timing. It’s not something I just happened to learn overnight. It’s something that I’ve been working on every since I was a kid, that timing to perfect everything. It paid off today and it’s just going to continue to get better.”
Vom Steeg was pleased with the production of like Ledoux, Eddie Villeda, Nemo Philipp, Gonzale, Figueroa and Barragan.
“Very, very talented group of players, and we added what I think are three or four playmakers to the group. So instead of being a one-dimensional team, there’s a lot of things going on on this field,” he said.
Ledoux appears to have found a home in the center of the field.
“His work rate is unbelievable, his attacking of the ball on both sides and coming and going. He’s a difference maker,” said Vom Steeg.
The Gauchos face a challenging season opener as they travel to Springfield, Mo., to play Missouri State on Thursday. Missouri State went 18-1 last year, and its roster is primarily made up of international players.
“Basically, they gave us the largest guarantee in the history of soccer, at least UCSB soccer. Unheard of numbers to go play them, because it is a place that nobody wants to play,” said Vom Steeg.