Two of Westmont’s coaches and two athletes were honored at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table’s 42nd Annual Hall of Fame Banquet on Monday night at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara.

Westmont Assistant Basketball Coach Jeff Azain was inducted into the SBART Hall of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments on the basketball court both in both high school and college.

“In 1980 and 81, Jeff was the leading rebounder in the Channel League and CIF,” said Maury Halleck who coached Azain at San Marcos High School and introduced him at the event. “The thing about Jeff is that for two years the San Marcos Royals never lost a game, they were 52-0. Jeff is the guy who gave all of his teammates second chances and was one of the best I ever had. He was not only a good athlete, but also a great man.”

“Two words come to mind when accepting this award,” said Azain to the audience. “The first is ‘blessed’. I was fortunate enough to play for two great men - Coach Halleck at San Marcos High School and Coach Kammerer at Westmont College. They were both great coaches, but more importantly that coaching basketball, they taught me about life and how to be a better man.

A most remarkable season finally came to an end in the quarterfinals of the 2008 NAIA National Championships. Westmont gave up an early goal to fourteenth-seeded Mount Vernon Nazarene (18-3-2) which proved to be the only score of the game.

“They had an early goal that just slipped into the corner net,” said senior team captain Jon Schoff. “Those happen every so often. It was a battle from there on. They are a really hard working team and they came to play. We gave everything we had. If you give everything you have, you can’t be disappointed in yourself.”

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Sophomore forward Dan Sargent scored the only goal of the game as #24 Westmont Men’s Soccer (12-6-2) defeated #21 Baker (Kan.) by a score of 1-0 in the second round of the NAIA National Men’s Soccer Championship. As a result, Westmont, which is seeded at number 11 in the tournament, will advance to the quarterfinals to take on seventh-ranked and fourteenth-seeded Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Baker concludes its season with a record of 14-7-2.

The victory extends the Warriors win streak to seven and continues a remarkable post-season journey. The sixth seed in the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament, Westmont upended third-seeded Vanguard and second-seeded Concordia to earn a place in the conference championship against top-seeded Azusa Pacific.

… and the remarkable story continues. After winning the Golden State Athletic Conference championship last Monday by defeating Azusa Pacific 2-0, #24 Westmont Men’s Soccer finally played their first home game of the post-season - well, something of a home game. The Warriors (11-6-2) hosted Holy Names (15-4) at Harder Stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara in a 2008 NAIA National Championship Opening Round game. Playing in front of 2,000 fans, the Warriors won the emotionally charged and well contested game by a score of 3-2 in double-overtime.

Nine days earlier, the Westmont campus suffered the loss of nine buildings, including dorm rooms and two academic buildings in the Tea Fire of Montecito. Fifteen homes of faculty members were also claimed by the fire, including that of head coach Dave Wolf and his wife Jill. Classes remain suspended and the campus is closed but students made their way back to Santa Barbara and joined faculty, staff, alumni and community members for one of the most remarkable games in Westmont history.

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After winning the Golden State Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship on Monday with a 2-0 victory over #5 Azusa Pacific, the twenty-fourth ranked Warriors of Westmont have turned their attention to the 2008 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round. The Warriors (10-6-2) will host Bay Area school Holy Names on Saturday in a seven o’clock game at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium.

Westmont will use the opportunity to say thank you to the Santa Barbara community for all the help, support and compassion it has received in response to the Tea Fire which swept through campus on Thursday evening. In addition to free admission, the Warriors plan to honor some of those who gave of themselves in protecting not only the Westmont campus but also the communities of Montecito and Santa Barbara.

Every coach looks for ways to inspire his team to greatness. Some days that motivation comes from places he or she would never expect – and never want. Today was one of those days. Four days after his home burned to the ground as a result of the Tea Fire in Montecito, Westmont Men’s Soccer head coach Dave Wolf watched from the bench as his team won the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship by defeating #5 Azusa Pacific (13-4-3) by a score of 2-0.

Wolf was not the only part of the Warrior team to have suffered a loss as a result of the fire. Senior midfielder Jonathon Schoff and his six roommates loss the home they rented a mile from campus and the dorm room of freshman defender Zach George was consumed by the blaze. Sophomore Ben Gordon, who lived in the same dormitory as George, also suffered damage to his room when it was flooded as a result of fire fighting activity.

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Westmont Men’s Soccer (9-6-2), ranked at number 24, will take on the #5 Cougars of Azusa Pacific (13-3-3) on Monday in the Golden State Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship.

The game was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, November 15, but the Tea Fire in Montecito, which swept across the Westmont campus on Thursday evening, forced a postponement. Westmont lost two academic buildings, the baseball facility and five buildings in the Clark Hall dormitories. Fifteen faculty members also lost their homes in the blaze, including men’s and women’s soccer coach, Dave Wolf.

Azusa Pacific graciously offered to postpone the contest and an agreement was reached with both the GSAC and the NAIA to effect that change. Azusa Pacific is coach by Phil Wolf, brother to the Westmont coach.

Sophomore Dan Sargent of Hamilton, Massachusetts, has been named the Golden State Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week. He was chosen for his contributions in Westmont’s two wins over ranked opponents last week in the GSAC Men’s Soccer Tournament. Sargent scored the only goal of the game in last Saturday’s semifinal game between the Warriors and the #11 Eagles of Concordia (Calif.). Sargent headed in a long pass from freshman Zach George to help Westmont advance to this Saturday’s championship game against #7 Azusa Pacific.

“Dan has played a key role for us, but not one that is often recognized on stat sheets or by awards,” noted Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “Dan has exhibited superb ball possession skills in the central midfield which has been critical to our success. Defensively, we have been able to assign Dan to our opponent’s best defensive player and he has had success in neutralizing that player.”

Sargent’s goal was his first of the year and the second of his collegiate career.