Eagles Win 5th Straight, Down Evergreen 4-2
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Alex Taylor and James Kerr scored two goals a piece as Northwest University won their fifth straight in defeating the Evergreen State College, 4-2, today in Cascade Conference play.
For the first 20 minutes it looked like Northwest’s win string was about to end as Marcello Dumpit put Evergreen in the lead at 13:51 into the first half. But after entering the game at the 20 minute mark, James Kerr scored the first of his two goals from 5 yards out on the right side off assists from teammates Brandon Screen and Kyle Tatro at the 33:44 mark. Screen had also entered the game with Kerr. Two minutes later, freshman Alex Taylor put Northwest into the lead with his 10 yard shot (35:44). Matt Walton got the first of his three assists on the goal. Walton would get his second assist as he set up James Kerr for his second goal of the day on the right side, 15 yards out.
In the second half, Taylor knocked in his second goal of the day from 5 yards out on Walton’s third assist (59:01). Evergreen State's Chris Miller would put Evergreen on the score board again with his penalty kick at 85:16 to end the scoring for the game.
Northwest U. out shot Evergreen (4-6-3, 4-5-2 CCC) 19-13 and ESC’s goalkeeper, Nathan Salveson had 11 saves in 90 minutes of play. NU’s Brian Swanson had 1 save for the Eagles and Kyle Wall stopped 3 in goal for Northwest.
In winning their fifth straight, Northwest U. (8-5-2, 6-5 CCC) has scored 16 goals while holding their opponents to just three scores in the past five contests. Alex Taylor has scored 8 goals to lead the Eagles while Luke Fischer leads the team with 5 assists.
“I felt we came out real flat and a little sluggish today,” commented NU Coach Gary McIntosh. “We have some of our guys fighting colds and illness, so the first 20 minutes were pretty difficult for us. Brandon Screen and James Kerr really stepped up for us and gave us the spark we needed after we put them into the game. James scores on Screen’s assist. It was a great team effort with guys stepping up and doing their job after we figured it out and played simple soccer. The bench really made a difference for us again today,” continued McIntosh. “It was good to get another win at home. We’ll take a couple of days off and get back to work on Tuesday and begin preparing for Oregon Tech.”
Northwest U. will now travel to Klamath Falls, Oregon on Saturday, October 31 to take on fifth place Oregon Tech. The Eagles now occupy fourth place in the CCC with 18 points to Oregon Tech’s 16.