Westmont Men’s Soccer outshot  William Jessup by an enormous 27-3 margin and coasted to a 3-0 victory Thursday afternoon in the Golden State Athletic Conference opener at Thorrington Field.

The win gave the NAIA 17th-ranked Warriors (5-2-2, 1-0-0 GSAC) some early confidence heading into conference play. 

“We certainly do take some confidence with us moving forward after today’s win,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf.

Junior midfielder Panchito Castro put the Warriors on the board in the 32nd minute off an assist from Lucky Puengrod. It was Castro’s third goal on the year.

“I think the first goal was really important to get in the fashion we did,” said Wolf. “It came out of a really disciplined defensive close on the left flank that forced a turnover and got the sequence started.”

In the 54th minute, freshman midfielder Sam Tuscano scored his first collegiate goal. He beat his defender at the top of the box and sent in a 12-yard strike past the William Jessup goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead. 

“Sam did a marvelous job of turning for that ball,” said Wolf. “He’s a pretty slippery player, he can break away, he can turn. He’s pretty elusive. He’s been really patient this year, in fact he and (Owen Bates) have been really patient and it’s just real nice to see them get a little reward.”

In the 72nd minute Bates converted on his first goal as a Warrior. The freshman from San Marcos ran on to a through ball from Collin Scott and finished. 

“We gotta throw some kudos to Collin Scott, he played a really important role in both the second and third goal,” added Wolf. “He found a really, really clever ball in the middle of the field on the second goal to Lucky, he kind of squeezed the ball into a really tight place.”

“I think it’s a great start to the league,” Wolf continued. “When you play in a league that is this tough, the home games are crucial, in fact, they’re doubly crucial. The challenge is now we have to immediately put it behind us and move on to the next game.” 

The Warriors’ next game is this Saturday at home against No. 21 Menlo College. Kick-off is set for 12:00 p.m.