CU's James Gaynor scored his first collegiate goal in the 23rd minute against NW Christian on Saturday.
Camp to Brace Combo Lifts Cavs over Beacons
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore.—With a combined two goals and five assists from Concordia’s Jared Brace and Tyler Camp, the Cavaliers defeated Northwest Christian 6-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s soccer action on Saturday.
With the result, CU improved to 5-1-1 on the year with a 4-0-0 mark in CCC play while NCU dropped to 1-6-1 overall and 0-3-1 in league action.
“Northwest is an improving team,” CU head coach Dan Birkey said. “They gave us trouble defensively at times, but Brace and Camp were always dangerous and crafty. I saw a hunger in our attack today that is healthy and encouraging.”
Brace (Vancouver, Wash.) got the Cavs on the board early with a goal in the first minute of play after a feed by fellow freshman Stephen Pies (Portland, Ore.).
The Beacons would respond in the 14th minute with an unassisted goal by Greg Erickson (Eugene, Ore.). Erickson obtained the ball off a CU turnover inside the 18-yard box and quickly turned on a shot which sailed to right-hand side of the net.
James Gaynor (Vancouver, Wash.) gave CU its second lead of the game, one which they would not surrender the rest of the way, with a 23rd minute score when Brace sent the ball from the right side where Gaynor settled the ball and fired from 16 yards out.
The Cavs would extend its lead in the final moments of the half as Facundo Dipascuale (Buenos Aires, Argentina) found the net with 25 seconds remaining after a second assist from Brace.
Coming out of the gate in the second half, the Beacons cut the margin to one with Erickson’s second goal of the afternoon. Erickson’s shot sailed high where it ricocheted off the cross bar and past the goal line.
From there, the Cavs scored back-to-back goals with Dipascuale rattling the net in the 47th minute and Brace returning with a second goal in the 57th minute.
Aaron Dilla (Hillsboro, Ore.) rounded out the scoring for the Beacons with a shot in the 72nd minute after. Setting up Dilla was Erickson and Alex Crossingham (Sandpoint, Idaho) as Erickson connected on a free kick from 30 yards out to find Crossingham near the right goal post where Crossingham tapped the ball to Dilla for the unobstructed shot.
Alex Young (Kalispell, Mont.) finished out the scoring for the match with a successful give-and-go with Camp ending with Young firing from 14 yards out.
“Their first goal was a deflected shot that caught our keeper off balance, but the other two goals they produced were good quality,” Birkey said. “We need to come back and deal with some defensive issues and be honest about our low work rate to get behind the ball today. I know the boys won’t be satisfied from this result entirely. They are an intelligent group and have the capacity to put together a more complete game.”
Concordia outshot Northwest Christian 26-to-14 with 15 considered on goal. Beacon keeper Cuyler Ziegler (Roseburg, Ore.) collected eight saves in the loss. Claudio Lazar (Ploiesti, Romania) picked up the win after saving seven shots.
Concordia returns to action on Sept. 29 when it travels to face Corban College. Opening kick is set for 4 p.m. in Salem, Ore.