Senior Chris Smerke scored the game-winning goal Tuesday against Northwest Christian, as Corban notched its first conference win of the season.
Smerke Shoots Corban to First Conference Win
BOX SCORE
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Senior Chris Smerke (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored the game-winning goal with just over five minutes remaining, as Corban's men's soccer team defeated conference rival Northwest Christian in come-from-behind fashion, 3-2, Tuesday night at Mike Kelly Field to pick up its first conference victory of the season.
Tonight's victory snaps an eight-game losing streak for Corban, as the Warriors improve to 2-8-1 overall and 1-7-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian drops its sixth straight match falling to 1-10-1 overall and 0-6-1 in CCC play.
After a scoreless 26-plus minutes, junior Ayouba Moussa (Maradi, Niger) got the Warriors on the board at the 26:49 mark with his fourth goal of the season off an assist by fellow junior Travis Wells (Springfield, Ore.). The third-year Warrior from Springfield returned to his home town and began the scoring play with a cross onto the awaiting head of the 6-foot-3 Moussa, who calming deposited the ball into the back of the net for the lone score over the opening 45 minutes of play.
Clinging to a slim one-goal lead heading into the second half, Corban allowed two unanswered goals by Northwest Christian with Kyle Ottwell teaming with T.J. Prentice for the game-tying goal at the 51:35 mark.
Less than 15 minutes later, the host Beacons got the go-ahead goal from Prentice off an assist from back-up goalkeeper Nick Kratzke at the 64:44 mark. Kratzke began the play on a breakaway before dropping a touch pass back to the trailing Prentice, who fired in a 25-yard strike for the Beacons' second goal of the night.
Northwest Christian would hold its one-goal lead until the 79:23 mark when Moussa notched his second goal of the game when a corner-kick led to a fracas in front of the goal. The ball would pop around numerous times before freshman Bruno Batista (Sao Paulo, Brazil) squirted a pass out to the left to Moussa, who was able to punch in his team-leading fifth score of the season using hawk-like reflects and once again tied the game at 2-2.
With the clock getting closer and closer to overtime, Smerke teamed with Wells for his first goal in a Warrior uniform at the 84:30 mark for what would turn out to be the eventual game-winning goal. With Corban attacking the Beacons' defense, Wells sent a crossing pass directly to the center of the box where Smerke punched in a five-yard strike to win the game.
Senior goalkeeper Aaron Franklin (Red Bluff, Calif.) would register a game-high seven saves for Corban en route to picking up his first win since the Warriors' season-opening 1-0 victory over cross town rival Willamette. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian's Cuyler Ziegler recorded a pair of saves with both coming in the second half of play.
Corban will return to the field on Saturday, October 17th, against the Geoducks of The Evergreen State College in a game that is scheduled to kick off at 12:00 p.m. on Warrior Field. The Warriors will be looking to exact revenge from the Geoducks after Corban suffered a heart-breaking 1-0 loss earlier this season in Olympia, Washington.