Oregon Tech's Devin Torrey Scored Game Winning Goal as OIT Shocked Concordia (Photo by Kelly Caleb
Hustlin' Owls Upset Concordia 2-0
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (October 3, 2009) - Oregon Tech’s men’s soccer side shocked long-time Cascade Collegiate Conference power Concordia, 2-0, on a wind-swept Trevor Derrah Field Saturday afternoon.
“This is a Boise State against Oklahoma in the BCS game,” OIT senior captain Devon Torrey said. “It’s one of those games when people read it, they might not believe it.” Believe it. Torrey’s direct kick from about 30 yards out gave the Hustlin’ Owls the lead 12 minutes into the match. Oscar Alonso’s goal with less than five minutes to play sealed the victory coming just hours after a frustrating loss to The College of Idaho Friday. OIT goalkeeper Tommy Burden recorded his league-leading fourth shutout of the season, and the Owls’ defense would make sure the Cavaliers, who were ranked 30th in the nation, would struggle challenging OIT Saturday. Concordia had one shot hit the goal post, one of just two shots on goal for the Cavaliers, who fell to 5-1 in the league, and 6-2-1 overall.
“Our defense played an incredible game, but we just played our game by marking (opponents) tight,” Burden said. “In the second half, the defense covered my mistakes,” the OIT junior said. “The wind was horrendous in the second half and (Concordia) did a good job taking advantage of it, but we won balls in the air.” Torrey and Dallas Bille used their height to head several Concordia attempts away from the net, and the rest of the OIT defense followed their lead.
“They’re really good at putting the ball where they want to, so we had to do a good job of clearing the ball,” Torrey said of the Owls’ defense. “That was the key, to limit their chances.” OIT also did a brilliant job of putting pressure on Concordia, and controlled the midfield through much of the match, until the visiting Cavaliers mounted their frantic, frenzied rush over the final 20 minutes of play trying to score. Concordia actually moved goalkeeper Claudio Lazar up to the attack zone late in the match. Lazar’ foul early in the match was a crucial play, too. That set up Torrey’s direct kick to give OIT, now 2-3 in league action, the lead.
“They put six men on the wall, which was kind of weird,” Torrey said of his goal. “The goalie had a harder vision to see the ball, and I just got enough (on the kick) to get the ball over the wall. “I don’t think their keeper (Lazar) saw me hit it.” OIT now will head to Washington state to play at Northwest University
Friday and at Evergreen State next Saturday. The Hustlin’ Owls next play at home Oct. 20 against Northwest Christian.