Surging Warriors Win Again

 

The Warriors are still unbeaten in Cal Pac play. Photo by Sanjay Joshi.

by BRANDON PETERSEN

The Westcliff men's soccer team didn't play its best game Thursday night at the Great Park in Irvine.

It still beat visiting St. Katherine, 3-1.

Three games into its first California Pacific

Conference season, Westcliff is still unbeaten at 2-0-1. After a break-even preseason, the overall record stands at 4-2-1, and it seems like every time they take the pitch, the Warriors are a stronger, more cohesive unit.

"I don't think we played as well as we can," Westcliff head coach Tom Lancaster said. "But we got a result and managed the game well, which is something we didn't do (against Embry-Riddle). So, it was nice to put what we need to do into practice.

"We're happy to get the win, now we just have to get ready for Providence on Saturday."

Westcliff took less than a minute to get on the board Thursday when Karam Idris found Felix Kogler in the box.

Kogler blasted a winner past keeper Brock Hendrickson at the 40-second mark to take an early 1-0 lead.

Despite its winless record, St. Katherine is no slouch. The Firebirds played Embry-Riddle tough, losing to the Eagles just 1-0, so the Warriors knew the contest wouldn't be easy – and it wasn't.

St. Katherine fired back in the ninth minute when Hugo Calderon redirected a rebound in the box to make it 1-1.  

Francesco Zanin was a brick wall for the remainder of the contest, finishing with five saves.

The Warriors offense, meanwhile, took over.

Westcliff outshot the Firebirds 35-10, and controlled the pace, managing to keep the rock on St. Katherine's end for the vast majority of the contest.

Idris made it 2-1 himself when chaos in the box left him with an opportunity he would not waste, sending the winner home in the 57^th minute.

John Adekunle put the game away in the 83^rd minute when he rebounded his own shot and redirected it into net.

Idris had a game-high seven shots on goal, while Adekunle had five.

Quinten Hornung had six attempts on goal and Jakob Schnitzler had four of his own.

The Warriors travel to Providence Christian Saturday.

Westcliff beat the Sea Beggars, 6-0, earlier this season.

To contact Brandon Petersen, e-mail brandonpetersen@westcliff.edu.