Zack Madison and the CU defense shut out Northwest despite 21 shot attempts from the Eagles.
Concordia Repels Northwest 5-0
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore.—With more than 20 shots flying from each team, Concordia was able to convert on multiple occasions while Northwest was held without a goal as the Cavaliers defeated the Eagles 5-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s soccer action on Tuesday afternoon.
With the result, Concordia improved to 4-1-1 on the season and a perfect 3-0-0 in CCC play while Northwest dropped to 2-2-2 overall and 0-2-0 in league action. Concordia resumes play at home when it hosts Northwest Christian at 3 p.m. at Delta Park. The men’s game will be immediately followed by the women’s game in a Concordia versus NW Christian soccer doubleheader.
“We played 18 guys and I thought their decision making and work rate actually picked the tempo up for us in the second half,” CU head coach Dan Birkey said. “We were more settled and comfortable without losing defensive importance as the match wore on.”
Senior defender Will Snow (Vancouver, Wash.) opened the game’s scoring in the 23rd minute with a five-yard tap in from a corner kick delivered from fellow senior Tyler Camp (Vancouver, Wash.).
The Cavs would double their lead five minutes later as a Northwest foul just outside the 18-yard box would put CU sophomore Facundo Dipascuale (Buenos Aires, Argentina) into a close range free kick situation where Dipascuale’s shot would be immediately returned as the wall blocked the ball right back to the attacker.
With the wall collapsing, providing a clearer target, Dipascuale unleashed a second kick which would find the back of the net.
“We opened our account with two determined goals in set pieces that really were not from the first ball,” Birkey said. “Will persisted on the opening goal after two or three deflections of his attempts from the corner. The second, Facundo gathered off a set piece defensive wall and volleyed a beauty from 18 yards.”
With less than three minutes remaining in the half, the Cavs would widen their lead again as Snow would be on the delivering end of a goal. Getting credit for the assist on the play, Snow’s shot attempt was ricocheted directly to teammate Stephen Pies (Portland, Ore.) on the opposite side of the frame where Pies was able to sneak a shot past NU keeper Kyle Wall (Seattle, Wash.).
The score would remain unchanged for much of the second half despite numerous shots on goal. Concordia’s Marc Meland (Vancouver, Wash.) broke the doldrums in the 83rd minute after receiving a cross from Camp, who tallied his second assist of the day on the exchange.
The Cavs’ final score came with 11 seconds remaining as Jared Brace (Vancouver, Wash.) pushed the ball past the Eagle defense. Kenny Lor (Portland, Ore.) recorded the assist with a 15-yard pass from left-to-right to the awaiting Brace.
“Late goals by Marc Meland and Jerod Brace were rewards for the team for closing the game out and finishing with sharpness,” Birkey said.
Concordia outshot Northwest 22-to-21 in the contest with Northwest picking up 13 attempts in the second half. Brandon Screen (Bremerton, Wash.) and Luke Fischer (Kalispell, Wash.) each had four shot attempts for the Eagles.
The Eagles generated two more corner kicks with the tally ending at 9-to-7 in favor of Northwest.
Wall denied eight shots in net for NU. Claudio Lazar (Ploiesti, Romania) picked up seven saves in the win. Getting his first action of the season in goal, CU freshman Cole Dahle (Wilsonville, Ore.) stopped two shots in more than 10 minutes of action.