CU's Facundo Dipascuale made his fourth penalty kick of the season against the Eagles on Saturday.
Cavs Top Northwest 2-1 to Take CCC Lead
STATS - Concordia vs. Northwest
PORTLAND, Ore.—In a match for the lead in the CCC, No. 12 Concordia men's soccer team prevailed 2-1 over Northwest on Saturday.
With the win, Concordia (13-1-1, 9-1-1 CCC) now moves three points ahead of Northwest (9-3-3, 8-2-1 CCC) in the standings and evens the two teams’ head-to-head record with three matches to go.
A tense match throughout, Northwest opened the scoring off a goal from captain Luke Fischer in the 31st minute. NU’s Joel Pelton fed Fischer the ball up the middle of the field before Fischer finished the play with a tricky angled shot into the right corner of the net.
However, just 23 second later, CU’s Septi Danciu earned the Cavs a penalty kick after Northwest fouled him in the box. That set up senior co-captain Facundo Dipascuale who sent in his fouth penalty of the season to even the match at 1-1.
Concordia took the momentum with them following the goal and outshot the Eagles 2-to-1 through the rest of the half, while forcing three corner kicks.
Then, in only the third minute of the second half, senior co-captain Evan Denmark put the Cavs up with a one-timer off a pass into the box from teammate Tanner Williams on the right hand side.
Now with the 2-1 lead, the pressure shifted to the Concordia defense to preserve the advantage. The offense, though, nearly gave the Cavs an insurance goal when they appeared to score in the 67th minute. However, Concordia was called for offsides before the shot and the score remained 2-1.
Northwest, then, nearly got its equalizer a few minutes later in the 69th minute. Midfielder Edgar Esquivel started the play, picking up a loose ball off a pass played towards the Concordia goal. Esquivel’s shot went wide right, though, and the Cavs held on to the lead. After that, Northwest only got two more shots the rest of the way, one of which came from Esquivel just a minute after his first.
Overall, Concordia took home advantages in shots (16-to-10), shots on goal (3-to-1) and corners (7-to-0) to go along with the 2-1 score.
Cole Dahle started his sixth straight match in goal for the Cavs, allowing the one goal in the first half. In the Northwest goal, Joe Galbraith played the whole match, saving one shot, while allowing two scores.
Concordia now turns to Evergreen State who they host on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. Northwest, meanwhile, travels across town to face Warner Pacific at 6 p.m. the same day.