CREDIT DUE

By Brandon Petersen

The Westcliff men's soccer team opened conference play with a humbling 3–1 loss to Stanton on Saturday afternoon at Orange Coast College.

In a clash of two of the Cal Pac's top sides, Stanton capitalized on its chances, striking twice late in the first half and adding a decisive third in the second.

The Warriors, meanwhile, created opportunities but failed to finish consistently, leaving them chasing the match.

Westcliff head coach Randy Dodge didn't sugarcoat his assessment.

"They did really well with their chances. Our goalkeeper didn't have to make any saves. Their third goal was awesome, and their second goal was basically an own goal from our bad, bad mistake," he said. "Just a level of arrogance that we can't have."

The Warriors outshot Stanton 14–8 and earned 11 corner kicks to just three for the visitors, but it was Stanton that found the breakthrough.

Francesco De Marco opened the scoring in the 37th minute, followed by a Warrior's own goal just before halftime that pushed the lead to 2–0.

Westcliff cut into the deficit early in the second half when Toby Squire finished off a setup from Adi Vaknin in the 53rd minute.

Momentum seemed to swing, but Stanton quickly regained control.

Isiah Hamelin's solo effort in the 62nd minute restored the two-goal cushion and effectively ended the comeback bid.

A flurry of cards late added frustration to the afternoon.

Despite a stronger second half, Dodge stressed the need for more maturity.

"I think emotionally we just have to find ourselves a little bit," he said. "At the end of the day, it's what you do at the end of the season, not what you're doing right now in the middle."

Westcliff drops to 3-4-1 (0-1 Cal Pac) while Stanton remains unbeaten at 4-0-3 (1-0).

The Warriors will look to regroup before their next conference test, Oct. 3^rd at Cal Maritime.

That contest is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.