Corban's men's soccer team had its magical season come to an end Saturday in an opening round loss against No. 8-ranked Concordia-Irvine.
Corban's Magical Season Comes to an End Against Concordia-Irvine in Opening Round
BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. – In its first-ever National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Opening Round game, Corban University's nationally-ranked men's soccer team fell to No. 8-ranked Concordia University-Irvine, 4-0, Saturday at Al Barbour Field on the campus of Biola University.
"Today's result was disappointing, as we felt that we could come out on top when the day began," said Corban's head men's soccer coach Aaron Lewis. "Concordia-Irvine did a great job of getting at us quickly and made the most of their opportunities."
Corban (16-2-2) began to apply the pressure immediately after the opening kickoff with the Warriors' Eliseo Santana getting the game's first shot a mere 11 seconds after the opening whistle. Once the home team regained control, Concordia-Irvine (15-4-0) held the visiting Warriors without a shot over the next 28-plus minutes.
In the 25th minute, CUI would get on the board when Adrian Padilla teamed with Chris Rodriguez and Isaac Gettis for his sixth goal of the season that would turn out to be the game-winner. Rodriguez and Gettis would begin the scoring play with a through ball from the left side that found the foot of Padilla, who deposited the shot into the top shelf of the goal for a 1-0 lead for the Eagles at the 24:32 mark.
Corban's golden scoring opportunity came in the 29th minute when CCC Newcomer of the Year Kemar Prince received a corner kick from junior Josh Hamilton and fired a shot only to have Concordia-Irvine's goalkeeper jump on the ball preventing it from going into the back of the net.
Over the opening 45 minutes, Concordia-Irvine registered six more shots (11-to-5) than Corban with the Eagles' lone shot on target finding the back of the net.
The second half would begin with Concordia-Irvine controlling the offensive flow, as the host Eagles put another goal of the board in the 54th minute when Mario Soto teamed with Ray Estrada for his 12th goal of the season. Estrada would begin the play with a nifty pass behind a pair of Corban defenders to a wide-open Soto, who one touch a shot past Corban's diving keeper to put CIU ahead by a score of 2-0 at the 53:23 mark.
Less than a minute later, Concordia-Irvine's Neil Ayala would suffer a horrible injury that caused a stop in play and forced medics to the field to help deal with a possible broken leg.
The stop in action seemed to jump start Corban offensively, as the Warriors got off a pair of shots within a seven-minute stretch only to have Concordia-Irvine halt any momentum that Corban had built with the Eagles' third goal of the afternoon when Soto scored his second goal of the game in the 65th minute.
Soto would team with Rodriguez and Rayane Bouarroudj for his 13th goal of the year, as Rodriguez and Bouarroudj found Soto in front of Corban's goal where he one touched a shot from straight on to put the home team ahead by three goals (3-0) at the 64:48 mark.
Less than two minutes later, Rodriguez would get into the scoring act with his first goal of the season off an assist by Alex Antonescu and Soto in the 67th minute. Soto began the play with a through ball to Antonescu, who quickly sent a back pass to Rodriguez before he lifted a shot into the upper corner for the final tally of 4-0 in favor of the host Eagles.
Corban's starting goalkeeper Jordan Farr registered a team-high three saves for Corban over the opening 81-plus minutes before he turned things over to reserve net-minder Steven Mason for the final eight-plus minutes where he tallied one save for the Warriors between the pipes. At the other end of the field, Concordia-Irvine's Jordan Brinkley registered a game-high seven saves for the Eagles en route to picking up the shutout.
Overall, Concordia-Irvine would register 10 more shots (22-to-12) than Corban with eight of those being on target compared to seven by the visiting Warriors.
"I'm extremely proud of this group of guys," commented Lewis. "What they accomplished this year is unbelievable and how they did it is truly a testament to how much they love and care for one another."
Despite today's result, Corban closes out the 2013 season tied for the fewest losses in program history with the Warriors also finishing in the Top 10 in the NAIA in goals allowed per game with an average of 0.74.
After Corban's magical season came to an end, the Warriors will now turn their attention to next season with 25 out of 26 players returning that helped bring home the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season and tournament trophies.