Duenas Hat Trick Leads Knights Over Northwest Christian
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Joel Duenas tallied a trio of goals to lead Warner Pacific College to a 6-2 win over Northwest Christian University tonight in CCC men’s soccer action.
The Knights set the tone for the game early, as Julian Esquivel took advantage of an Alija Sacirovic pass and scored his first goal of the season just 1:54 into the first half.
The visiting Beacons settled in for the next 20 minutes and looked to be fending off all attacks before Duenas struck for the first time. Taking an Esquivel pass, Duenas made a nice move around the NCU keeper and tapped in at the 24:21 mark.
Looking to build on their 2-0 halftime lead, WPC again came out aggressive. Duenas was again the culprit, this time benefiting from an Andrew Scott flip throw in that he deftly headed home a mere 1:11 into the second period.
The score was increased to 4-0 in favor of Warner Pacific at 57:22 after Carlos Pehr got into the act, heading in a goal thanks to another Scott service.
Duenas earned his hat trick and gave the Knights a 5-0 lead at the 68:00 minute mark with yet another header, with Evan Lehner given the assist.
Northwest Christian continued to fight hard despite the deficit, and finally broke through on a nicely chipped shot from David Lee at the 74:38 mark.
Cody St. John capped off the scoring for Warner Pacific, blasting in an 8 yard shot after an Esquivel feed.
Moments later, NCU’s Greg Erickson notched his 4th goal of the year on a well executed breakaway and finish to make the final score 6-2 in favor of the Knights.
Warner Pacific out shot the visitors 29-11 and led in corner kicks 3-0.
Knight goalkeeper Sean Ervin made 4 saves on the night to earn the win. NCU’s Cuyler Zeigler stopped 10 shots in goal for the Beacons.
Warner Pacific improves to 4-3-0 on the year and 3-1-0 in CCC play. NCU drops to 1-5-1 and 0-3-1
The Knights will be back in action next Tuesday, Sept 29th, traveling to Northwest University.