Knights Secure 3-1 Win Over Northwest
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Warner Pacific kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 win over Northwest University today at David Douglas High School.
The victory brings the Knights (8-4-3, 6-3-3 CCC) into a 3rd place tie (21 points) with Corban in the Cascade Conference standings with two games remaining on the schedule. The visiting Eagles (9-4-3, 8-3-1) stay alone in 2nd place, but saw their CCC title aspirations take a hit with their second straight loss.
Northwest looked to be the better team early on, and for the first twenty minutes produced all the scoring chances. The Eagles forced WP keeper Drew Bonifacio into making four saves and had the Knights on their heels. NU broke through in the 16th minute, as Edgar Esquivel tapped in from close range after a headed pass from Luke Fischer skipped through the box.
The goal conceded by WP seemed to wake up the hosts, and they were rewarded for their increased work rate with a goal in the 33rd minute. Jameson Jones curled a corner kick that found the head of defender Alan Murray. His headed shot hit the left post, then ricocheted off of NU goalkeeper Joe Galbraith into the net for his first collegiate goal.
The contest proceeded to get physical at times, and six yellow cards in all were issued by the referee. Toward the end of the second period Jones provided what would be the game winning score in the 75th minute, with a volleyed shot just over the reach of Galbraith from 20 yards away.
Eight minutes later with much of the Eagle team pushed forward in search of the equalizer, WP’s Alija Sacirovic latched on to a long clearance and slotted home his 12th goal of the year to salt away the win for the Knights.
Each team generated 11 shots in the contest, while Warner Pacific held a slight advantage in corner kicks, 5-4. Bonifacio made seven total saves for WP, Galbraith stopped two shots for the Eagles.
Warner Pacific will face league leading Concordia on Saturday, October 29 at 4pm, while Northwest will host Evergreen State on the same day.
The game also marked the final home contest for five Warner Pacific seniors – Craig Koskey, Ryan O’Dell, Kyle Milnes, Alija Sacirovic, and Jordan Selland.