Second-Half Spree Boosts Cavs on Senior Night

10/24/2013 9:04:00 PM

Concordia 4, Evergreen 0 Stats Comparison CU Evergreen Goals 4 0 Shots 28 0 Shots on Goal 10 0 Corner Kicks 11 1 Saves 0 6 Fouls 9 5 CU Leaders Evergreen 4 players 1 Goals 0 N/A Blalock 7 Shots 0 N/A Ames Blalock Scott 2 SOG 0 N/A 5 players 1 Assists 0 N/A N/A 0 Saves 6 MacKenzie

PORTLAND, Ore. – Newly-crested No. 1-ranked Concordia used four second-half goals to defeat Evergreen State 4-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference women's soccer action on Thursday night.

Prior to kickoff, the team honored its four seniors on the roster: Alex Blalock (Flagstaff, Ariz./Coconino H.S.), Samantha Johnson (Hailey, Idaho/Wood River H.S.), Hannah Kimsey (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River H.S.) and Hannah Scott (Milwaukie, Ore./Milwaukie H.S.).

"It's always a day for me to reflect a little bit and appreciate those guys and what they give to a program," CU head coach Grant Landy said. "We had a lot of great energy in the first half but I wouldn't say it was productive energy. We took a big deep breath at halftime and once that first goal went in it opened up the game for us."

Concordia improved top 12-1-1 on the season and remain undefeated in CCC play at 6-0-0. Evergreen fell to 3-8-0 overall and 2-4-0 in league contests.

After 15 shots in the first half without a goal to show, Concordia broke through in the 56th minute as Alicia Alarcon-Evans (Portland, Ore./Sunset H.S.) served a ball from the right side towards teammate Ashley Ames (Liberty Lake, Wash./Gonzaga Prep). With a quick settle and a turn, Ames fired from 25 yards out and into the upper right corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Beginning in the 73rd minute, McKayla Madison (Bend, Ore./Mountain View H.S.) and Alex Blalock (Flagstaff, Ariz./Coconino H.S.) put the game out of reach with a pair of scores in a seven-minute span midway through the second half. Madison followed through from near the end line after a corner from Hannah Kimsey (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River H.S.) and a light touch from Bobbi Eckler (Vancouver, Wash./Union H.S.) for her fifth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

After several near-misses in the first half, Blalock found the back of the net in the 79th minute after taking a successful shot from 14 yards out after a feed from Hannah Smith (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep), who was charging down the left side of the pitch in the play.

Shannon McMahon (Lake Forest Park, Wash./Bishop Blanchet H.S.) closed out the CU scoring at the 89:05 with a header off a corner from Erin Huisingh (Pasco, Wash./Chiawana H.S.).

Evergreen was held without a shot in the match but was able to produce several dangerous chances. Early in the second, Jasmine Berlin found Rayna Murphy deep in the attacking third with space to roam but the chance was wiped away by an aggressive touch on the ball which enabled the CU defense to recover.

Midway through the second, Evergreen's Delaney Smith cruised to the endline and made the turn towards the goal but ran out of room to give the Cavs the ball back on a goal kick.

Despite the four goals allowed, Evergreen keeper Kaitlin MacKenzie came through with several quality saves in the match to keep the Geoducks within striking distance. MacKenzie was credited with six saves in the 90-minute performance.

"I've seen them play a few times this year and Adam (Fenster) does a good job of keeping his team organized and coming up with a good game plan," Landy said. "They were able to keep us in front of them for good portions of the match."

The Cavaliers will turn their attention to Northwest University as they host the Eagles on Saturday; kickoff will begin at 2 p.m. at Tuominen Yard. Evergreen will stay in Portland to face Warner Pacific College.