In the end, the result maybe wasn’t what the Trinity Western men’s soccer team deserved, but a win is still a win.
After a rough start, the Spartans used their ability to execute on set pieces to claim a 3-2 victory over the #22 Wesmont Warriors Tuesday night in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Spartans three goals, two from corner kicks, were too much for the Warriors to overcome in their season opener.
Senior vice captain, Jeremiah Anderson, kicked off the scoring for the Warriors in the 15th minute. Jose Vasquez slipped a ball to Anderson who was making a run behind the Spartans’ back line. Anderson then hit it with his left past the keeper to the back right corner of the net.
They did need more as the Spartans leveled the score in the 25th minutes. Fifth year forward Leighton Johnson took a corner kick from the left side. His service was headed towards goal from fourth year forward Domenic Poletto where Lalo Delgado recorded his first save of the season. Delgado swatted the ball away, but third year midfielder Jacob Low picked up the loose ball and passed it back to fifth year forward Vito Poletto, who deposited the ball in the upper right corner of the goal.
Trinity Western struck again in the 42nd minute as Johnson again served in a corner from the left side. This time finding the head of third year midfielder Caleb Johnson, who promptly headed the ball past Delgado to give the Spartans the 2-1 advantage. They would take that lead into halftime.
Trinity Western extended their lead in the 56th minute as Leighton Johnson beat a defender and served a pass from the right side to Low who delivered the ball to the back of the net from seven yards out.
The Warriors would respond in the 62nd minute. The opportunity was created by some fancy footwork from Sean Nakaoka who beat a defender towards the right end line. He glanced up and spotted Lucky Puengrod making a run from the left side. Nakaoka flicked the ball beautifully to the head of Puengrod who saw it straight past the keeper to bring the Warriors within one.
That was as close as Westmont would come to Trinity Western with the final score leading to a 2-3 victory in favor of the Spartans.
TWU second year keeper Sebastian Colyn of Langley made three saves to earn the win, while Westmont’s Lalo Delgado made one save in the loss.
“The first 30 minutes were pretty rough,” said TWU Head Coach Mike Shearon.
“In the end, the result maybe wasn’t what we deserved but I am happy that we solved some new problems today and are starting to move forward.”
The Spartans will now have a day off before playing at Azusa Pacific on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. TWU opens up the Canada West season on the road at UBC Okanagan and Thompson Rivers on August 25 and 26.
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