Westmont men’s soccer released any frustration it may have been feeling on the Eagles of Biola (6-10, 2-6) on Wednesday at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors scored early and often on their way to a 5-0 shutout, bringing an end to a six game skid.

“I thought we were superb the first half,” said head coach Dave Wolf. “The guys put it all together in the first half. The bits and pieces we’ve seen at different times during the season - they all showed up that first half and it was a thorough display.”

“We had to win this one,” said junior midfielder Jake Joyner. “After we played Concordia last week, we saw that we could take it to the number one team in the nation. We started to think about that while we were training and then today we got the result.”

Westmont scored four times in the first half, beginning with a goal by junior midfielder Sammy Montemer in the eighth minute of the game on Westmont’s first shot of the game. Freshman Tony Niboli headed the ball forward to Montemer in the center of field, giving Montemer a one-on-one opportunity with Biola’s keeper. Montemer slammed the ball home from 10 yards out.

Two minutes later, junior midfielder Jon Schoff was taken down in the box resulting in a penalty kick for the Warriors. Senior midfielder Johnny Alcaraz buried the shot to put the Warriors up 2-0 less than ten minutes into the game.

“We have had to play so many pressurized moments this year because of being in tied games or being behind,” said Wolf. “To get up a couple of goals and be able to manage the game is a totally different vantage point.”

In the twenty-fourth minute, Schoff helped make it a 3-0 lead with a cross from the right baseline to the center of the field. Senior defender Sergio Hernandez-Leor headed the pass into the net from 13 yards out.

Westmont’s fourth goal came in spectacular fashion. Freshman defender Saul Moreno launched a ball from just past midfield on the right sideline. Niboli, an Eagle’s defender and Biola’s goalkeeper collided in front of the net. The ball bounced up and away from the goal and over the head of Joyner who turned around and performed a beautifully executed bicycle kick to score the goal.

“Tony went up for the ball and challenged the play,” said Joyner. “The ball popped up. I didn’t think about it, I just turned around and kicked it.”

The only goal of the second half came in the eighty-second minute with Joyner and sophomore Justin Miller-Torres in the center of the field.

“I pressed the center back and the ball popped out,” reported Joyner. “Justin made a run behind me. I slipped him the ball and he put it in.”

Wolf was very pleased with his teams play up front.

“We have been playing with a single target player,” said Wolf. “The role which Dan Sargent and Jake played in just holding the ball a little bit was real important to our team. We did some good things around that, but without those two guys, it is hard for us to get out and to play in the other team’s side of the field. Those two guys and Tony really helped us establish what we were going to do.”

With just two games left in the regular season, Westmont finds itself in a four-way tie for seventh place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings. Six or seven GSAC teams are expected to qualify for play in the upcoming NAIA Region II championship. With today’s win, the Warriors have improved their chances of advancing to post-season play.

We feel we have to win out to have a chance,” said Wolf. “This was step one. The guys did their part. Their play created the atmosphere today. That created some excitement in our fans and on our bench and that was and nice environment for them to play in. We will try to go get a win on Saturday and then hopefully we have something to play for in the last regular season game.”

Westmont will travel to El Cajon on Saturday to take on San Diego Christian (6-8, 0-7) at 3:00 p.m. and then host California Baptist (6-7-1, 2-5) at noon on Saturday, October 27 at Russ Carr Field. Wins in both contests make a post-season appearance by the Warriors a strong probability.

[stats]