Freshman Emily Tsugawa netted her first collegiate goal Wednesday against NCAA D-III Linfield under the lights in McMinnville.
Tsugawa Scores in Corban's Loss to Linfield
BOX SCORE
McMINNVILLE, Ore. – For the first time this season, Corban's women's soccer team saw itself on the wrong end of the scoreboard when the final whistle blew as the Warriors fell to NCAA Division III member Linfield, 3-1, Wednesday night at the Linfield Soccer Field.
On the finishing leg of back-to-back games on consecutive nights, Corban fell behind early when the host Wildcats scored in the 11th minute when MacKenzie Doty scored the game's opening goal on an assist from Rachel Miles.
After trailing by a one-goal advantage over the next 54-plus minutes, Corban got on the scoreboard when sophomore Amanda Mendenhall (Windsor, Calif.) found a crease in the Linfield defense, penetrating into the box before dropping a pass behind to freshman Emily Tsugawa (Gladstone, Ore.). From 15 yards out, Tsugawa rifled a bullet past Linfield goalkeeper that knotted the score at 1-1.
Corban continued to put pressure on the Wildcats during the final 20 minutes of the opening half, but Linfield's keeper was up to the task making two diving saves in the 68th minute to keep the match deadlocked.
With the Wildcats seemingly on their heals, Linfield struck back with authority when Miles drove down the right side and fired a shot into the box, only to have the shot deflect right to Anna Sours. After a quick stutter step, Sours powered what would turn out to be the game-winner into the bottom-right corner of the goal in the 84th minute.
Corban attempted to tie the score for the second time when senior Jessica Matthews (Yelm, Wash.) unleashed a shot with 21 seconds left. Unfortunately, Matthews' final attempt went high above the crossbar and Linfield took full advantage.
With just 13 seconds on the clock the host Wildcats quickly counteracted Corban's scoring attempt, as Miles found Doty streaking down the left sideline. With a shot to the back of the net, Doty tallied her second goal of the night and fourth of the season for the final tally of 3-1.
Senior goalkeeper Jennifer Bassett (Keizer, Ore.) stood between the pipes for Corban over the entire 90 minutes, as she recorded a game-high nine saves. As a team, the Warriors kept Linfield off the scoreboard on four seperate occasions that included one Wildcat scoring opportunity in the 29th minute that was cleared by a sliding Warrior defender just in front of an open net.
Linfield's net-minder Kelsey Hasselblad played the entire game for the Wildcats and registered a team-high four saves en route to securing her first win of the season.
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 1-1-1 on the young season. Meanwhile, Linfield improves to 1-1 overall. The Warriors will return to action on Saturday, September 5th, when they begin a two-game Northern California road trip against the Hawks of Holy Names beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Merritt College in Oakland.