Concordia's McKayla Madison scored her third goal of the season in the 80th minute, as the top-ranked Cavaliers of Concordia earned a come-from-behind win over Corban Friday on Warrior Field in Salem.
Concordia Remains Unbeaten With Come-From-Behind Win Over Corban
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – The NAIA's No. 1-ranked Concordia got a game-winning goal by McKayla Madison in the 80th minute to remain unbeaten this year thanks to a 2-1 Cascade Collegiate Conference victory over Corban Friday on Warrior Field.
With today's result, Concordia remains unbeaten this season improving to 12-0-2 overall and a perfect 6-0-0 in league games. Meanwhile, Corban falls to 8-6-1 overall and 3-3-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play.
Corban's Emily Boudreau would get the host Warriors on the board first when she took a corner kick along the near sideline in the 19th minute and lofted a perfectly placed ball into the box. The ball would elude all the attacking Corban players, but found a Concordia defender, who had the ball deflect off her body and then bounced off the left post before finding the back of the net for an early 1-0 lead at the 18:35 mark.
The first half goal by Corban was the first one allowed by Concordia in a Cascade Collegiate Conference game this season, as the Cavaliers had a scoreless streak of nearly 469 minutes snapped thanks to Boudreau's first goal of the year. This is also the first time that Concordia has allowed a goal since mid-September when nationally-ranked William Carey scored in the 32nd minute.
Corban would hold the lead for just under twenty minutes before Concordia got the equalizer on Alicia Alarcon-Evans' fifth goal of the season off an assist by Alex Blalock in the 38th minute. The two Cavalier forwards would partner on a perfectly placed ball between a pair of Corban defenders, as Blalock found a streaking Alarcon-Evans, who outraced both Warriors markers finding herself one-on-one with Corban's keeper. Without wasting any time in a 2-on-1 advantage, Alarcon-Evans deposited her shot into the lower right corner of the goal to knot the game at 1-1 at the 37:11 mark.
Corban and Concordia would be tied at halftime, as the visiting Cavaliers held a slight 3-to-2 advantage in total shots over the opening 45 minutes of play.
In the second half, Concordia would amp up its offensive pressure getting numerous opportunities off free kicks only to have the ball skip straight to Corban's goalie. In the 80th minute, Concordia would finally break the tie when Alarcon-Evans took the ball down the far sideline before crossing a pass into the 18-yard box where Madison was waiting and she one-timed a shot into the back of the net for the game-winner at the 79:46 mark.
Over the final 10-plus minutes, Concordia would attempt to stale the game by playing opposum in each of their offensive corners trying to run out the clock. Corban would get one last scoring chance when Terrika Weaver took the ball along the far sideline and unleashed a 20-yard shot that curved just right of the post in the 81st minute.
Concordia's goalkeeper Tori Talbutt needed to make only one save en route to picking up the victory, while Corban's net-minder Kaitlyn Mendenhall, who had her scoreless streak snapped at 258-plus minutes, registered a game-high six saves for the Warriors.
Offensively, Concordia outshot Corban by seven shots (11-to-4) that included an 8-to-2 advantage in shots on goal. The visiting Cavaliers were also awarded eight more corner kicks (11-to-3) than the Warriors that included a 5-0 advantage in the second half.
Both teams will return to action tomorrow – Saturday, October 20th – with Corban hosting Warner Pacific in a 1:00 p.m. match on Warrior Field in Salem and Concordia traveling to Springfield to take on Northwest Christian beginning at 4:00 p.m.