Sophomore Emily Tsugawa netted Friday's game-winner against Warner Pacific via a penalty kick in the 29th minute, as Corban collected its 10th win of the season.
Corban's Tsugawa & Sullivan Score in Shutout
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – Sophomore Emily Tsugawa (Gladstone, Ore.) and freshman Audrey Sullivan (Puyallup, Wash.) each scored a goal, as Corban's women's soccer team captured its 10th win of the season Friday via a 2-0 shut out of the visiting Knights of Warner Pacific on Warrior Field.
After a scoreless opening 28-plus minutes in which Corban peppered Warner Pacific's goal, Tsugawa got the Warriors on the board with her team-leading seventh goal of the season via a penalty kick in the 29th minute. With Corban's offensive pressure being applied to the Knights' defense, Warner Pacific was whistled for a handbook in the box therefore awarding the host Warriors the free kick. Tsugawa would calmly step up to the ball and deposit her shot into the lower right corner of the goal, as WPC's goalkeeper dove the opposite direction in an attempt to outsmart the Warriors' leading scorer.
Corban would hold its slim one-goal lead through halftime and into the 49th minute before Sullivan took a combo pass from sophomore Melissa Berry (El Cajon, Calif.) and Tsugawa and scored her sixth goal of the season. The scoring play began with Tsugawa sending a pass back to the awaiting Berry, who threaded a through ball onto the awaiting foot of Sullivan before the first-year Warrior beat Warner Pacific's goalie into the lower right corner for the game's final score.
In a game that was completely controlled by Corban, Warner Pacific could muster only three shots total with one being on goal. The Knights' lone shot on goal eluded the Warriors' net-minder only to be cleared off the line by a Corban defender en route to securing the team's sixth shut out of the season.
Freshman goalkeeper Alexis Beattie (Brea, Calif.) stood strong between the pipes for Corban, as she did not need to make a save en route to collecting her ninth win of the season and fourth collegiate shut out. On the other hand, Warner Pacific used a tandem of keepers – Kelsey Messmer and Caitlin Morgan – that combined for eight saves on 22 shots.
With today's win, Corban improves to 10-2-0 overall and 2-1-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Warner Pacific falls to 1-7-2 overall and 0-3-0 in league games. The Warriors will return to the field tomorrow – Saturday, October 9th – against the NAIA's No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Cavaliers of Concordia beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Warrior Field.