PORTLAND, Ore. – Playing a man down for the final 64:30, Concordia avenged its sole Cascade Collegiate Conference loss with a 2-1 victory over Warner Pacific to win the CCC Championship Saturday at Delta Park.

With the win, Concordia improves to 16-2-1 and earns the CCC automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. Warner Pacific’s season comes to an end with the loss, dropping the Knights’ record to 9-9-2.

 

As has become customary in Concordia/Warner Pacific matchups, this game featured many fouls and cards. The teams combined for 31 fouls and six yellow cards, with CU’s #Jared Brace# (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River H.S.) receiving his second yellow and an ejection in the 26th minute of the contest.

Moments before the episode, the Cavaliers’ first goal came on a Shaunovan Wilson (Jackson Town, Jamaica/Cedric Titus H.S.) penalty kick in the 18th minute after a tackle in the box. Wilson’s kick stretched to the upper right of Warner Pacific goalkeeper Sean Ervin, who finished the match with four saves.

The Knights became more aggressive on offense following Brace’s ejection, and CU goalkeeper #Claudio Lazar# (Ploiesti, Romania/Mount Viteazul H.S.) made several impressive stops among his nine saves in the contest to keep the Cavs from falling behind.

Warner Pacific tied the match in the 49th minute on a counter-attack long pass through the middle of the field from Alija Sacirovic to Juan Castillo on the right side of the goal. Castillo fired a strike from 22-yards out to Lazar’s upper left to mark the first goal against CU since Warner Pacific defeated the Cavs 1-0 on Oct. 2, a span of eight shutout matches.

The Knights finished the contest with a 19-13 shot advantage, including 8-4 in the second half. In the 55th minute, Warner Pacific had a pair of corner kicks and shot attempts that Lazar deflected over the goal to maintain the 1-1 tie for Concordia.

Concordia’s Septi Danciu (Bristita, Romania/Evergreen H.S.) scored the game-winner in the 62nd minute for the Cavs. About 30 seconds after entering the match, Danciu scored on a right side attack off a pass from Facundo Dipascuale (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Lakeridge H.S.).

 

The contest was a rematch of the 2009 title game where WPC escaped in penalty kicks after the two teams played to a 1-1 tie.

The Cavaliers await the release of the NAIA National Tournament bracket to discover who they will face in their next match.