Westmont Men’s Soccer took 94 minutes before it scored against No. 21 Marymount. When the golden goal from the foot of Augie Andrade found the back of the net to give Westmont a 1-0 win in overtime, head coach Dave Wolf became the 18th NAIA coach to reach 300 career wins.
Wolf, who is in his 26th year as head coach of the Warriors, now has a record of 300-144-47 for a winning percentage of .659.
“The consistency over the years is an important part of it for me,” said Wolf, reflecting on the significance of winning 300 games. “We haven’t always been great, for sure, but we have aimed for a level of consistency that I think is not easy to maintain.
“It definitely makes me think about (former Westmont head coaches) Russ Carr and Bob Fortosis. I think a lot about those two guys because I inherited a very healthy, successful program. That is indicative of the work that they did and the legacy that they passed on.”
In its 51-year history, Westmont Men’s Soccer has had only four coaches, all of who boast winning records over .600.
“I think that we moved into an era where winning college soccer games is not easy,” said Wolf of his tenure. “I am encouraged by the contribution of this era to keep the legacy going. It’s not just me, it’s all the players and all the great assistant coaches as well.”
After the celebration of the winning goal, the team had another celebration in mind. With his players and assistant coaches standing in the background and his wife Jill at his side, Wolf was presented with a plaque by Westmont Athletic Director Dave Odell from the National Soccer Coaches Association of American that commemorated the accomplishment.
On the game-winning goal, Austin Lack received a pass in the middle of the field, passed to Nate Ruble near the right touchline and then broke towards the goal. Ruble passed the ball back to Lack inside the box and Lack flicked the ball on to Andrade who went one-on-one with the keeper to score.
“I really liked our team a lot in the second half,” Wolf said. “I really liked us in the final third of the field. It was the first time all season that I felt like we were dangerous. We looked really comfortable in the final third of the field in the second half. There was something about the mixture we had in the second half that really worked well.
“My hope is that today can build their confidence a little bit as it pertains to the attacking part of the game.”
Westmont improved to 3-1 and handed Marymount (3-1-1) its first loss.