2024春季杂志 韦斯特蒙特足球故事的遗产

摄影师:Jacob Norling ' 20照片:Robbie Gawrys

When asked if his first year as head coach of the Westmont men’s soccer team went like he originally planned, 他们笑了, 笑着说, “No.“第五任主教练

in the program’s 58-year history navigated his club through its first season at the NCAA Division II level, unexpectedly winning a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national title.

“If you had told me — and the guys — at the beginning of the season that we’d be playing in December and winning our final game, I don’t think a lot of us believed that could actually happen,”他们说。. “但那是我们的梦想.”

Before the season started, Cathey shared his expectations for the Warriors. “Things are going to look a little different, and we’re going to struggle,” he said. “但我们的粉丝和校友不必恐慌.”

Cathey’s cautions about growing pains for the team, 他公开宣布, 未能软化打击时

 Westmont began the season winless in its first seven matches, with the Warriors being outscored 12-4.

Still, the relentlessly positive Cathey remained unfazed. Those first seven matches came before Westmont’s first PacWest game, scheduled for September 30. That date became ingrained in the brains of fans after the first-year coach repeatedly stressed that the club considered their pre-conference contests as training grounds for their introduction into PacWest play.

“The months leading up to September 30 featured an outpouring of support from our community established through some long

痛苦，”Cathey说. “我们花了几个月的时间在地基上建造, knowing it could help us succeed once we entered PacWest play.

“We didn’t know that we wouldn’t win a game up until that point, but we could see pretty clearly what we were establishing. The community we have here at Westmont not only gave us the opportunity to succeed but the opportunity to thrive as well.”

9月30日, the Warriors won their first PacWest game — and their first NCAA victory — by defeating their rival Biola 4-0. 正如他们所预测的那样, the Warriors used this contest as a launching pad, winning six of their first seven PacWest contests. The team found the back of the net 23 times in those seven games.

Cathey laughed looking back at the stark difference between his club’s scoring in its first seven PacWest games, versus its four goals in the first seven matches of the season. “说实话, we only began working on our attack in the final third of the first six-plus weeks of our time together.

“We were so focused on building our attack from the back forward, that our strikers were probably a bit bored with training at some points. But we knew that once our team learned to build our foundation from the back up, 天空是极限.”

在PacWest玩, Westmont finished the season with a 7-2-1 record, putting the Warriors alone in second place with 22 points. Westmont outscored PacWest opponents 27-11 during its conference slate.

“You have to have young men who believe in what’s to come,”他们说。. “And they have to be able to apply the lessons they learn in adversity. 只有你有伟大的品格，你才能做到这一点.”

在季末, the club knew it was ineligible for the PacWest Tournament — or any national-level tournament in the NCAA — in its first year as members of an NCAA team. 但在这过渡的一年里, it could compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national tournament, 它把注意力转向了这个目标.

在主场赢得NCCAA西部赛区之后, 勇士队收拾行李前往基西米, 佛罗里达, to chase the program’s first national championship since the 1972 men’s soccer team won Westmont’s first-ever National Association of Intercollegiate ag娱乐官网 (NAIA) title.

Westmont’s run at the NCCAA National Championships began in grand style, when Leonel Olivo Ortiz scored 19 seconds into an eventual 3-1 win over Asbury, 为接下来特别的一周做准备.

“From that moment, our guys took care of every possible outcome in front of them,”他们说。. “Every single time our guys were tested, they seized the opportunity. The ability to apply what we had learned at any moment marked this team throughout the season.”

在俱乐部击败阿斯伯里之后, Wayland Baptist and Central Christian to earn a place in the NCCAA national championship game, Westmont’s season culminated on December 2 in a game against the Campbellsville Tigers. 勇士队在那天晚上完成了一个任务, and a pair of goals from captain Daniel Tuscano and a third from Connor Lynch gave the Warriors a 3-1 win.

当终场哨响时, 球队像1972年一样庆祝, winning its second national championship in program history. Tuscano was named the NCCAA National Tournament Most Valuable Player.

“Our word for the year was ‘legacy,’”他们说。. “There was no greater motivation than leaving the jersey in a better place than we found it. 我们的程序代表什么, not only to us but to the generations that have gone before us, 是孜孜不倦地追求卓越.

“我们的人想要的, 最重要的是, was to make our community proud and leave a foundation that will motivate the next group, 就像很多球队为我们所做的那样.

“This championship is for everyone who ever wore a Westmont jersey and for the community at large.”

Westmont’s legacy continues to build upon our storied past while blazing a new trail in our present.