Westmont was unable to capitalize on a man advantage in the last 58 minutes and suffered a 2-1 loss to Menlo in the championship game of the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s soccer tournament on Saturday at Biola.
Menlo took a 2-1 lead in the 32nd minute on a set piece, with Luiz Nunez heading in a free kick by Ryan Onizuka. Prior to the play, an Oaks player received a red card.
Westmont applied pressure and created good scoring chances but it couldn’t come up with the equalizing goal.
“I think it wasn’t a great night for us tonight,” coach Dave Wolf said. “We didn’t perform at the level of our capability and in some ways you could say it was the wrong night to have a performance that was a little bit off song. But I think Menlo was a deserving winner and I think part of the experience for us tonight is saying that and humbly accepting that reality.”
The Oaks got through the Westmont defense and scored the first goal of the match in the 12th minute. Erik Emanuelsson fed the ball to Onizuka at the penalty spot and Onizuka fired off a one-time shot into the right upper corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Westmont evened the score when Matt Lariviere connected with Jeremiah Anderson in the 24th minute. Lariviere quickly dribbled down the right sideline deep into the Oaks’ goal box and crossed the ball to Anderson at the far corner of the 6-yard box. Anderson slotted the ball first-time into the bottom right side of the goal to tie the score.
The Warriors end their season with a record of 11-5-1, a conference record of 7-2-1 and as GSAC regular season conference champions.