Evergreen Dusts Off Warner Pacific
OLYMPIA - A team starving for goals had a nice feast on Saturday afternoon as The Evergreen State College defeated Warner Pacific, 3-0, in a Cascade Collegiate Conference men's soccer match played at Geoduck Pitch.
The Geoducks, 1-0 losers in each of their last two matches and scorers of only 11 goals in 12 previous matches, scored twice in the first half and added one more in the final 45 minutes to improve their overall record to 5-7-1 and their conference mark to 5-4-1. More importantly, they separated themselves from Warner Pacific by three points. The Knights came to Olympia tied with Evergreen for fourth place in the CCC standings, but following today's result they are now 5-6-3 overall and 4-5-1 in league play.
"It think it takes some of the pressure off," Evergreen head coach John Purtteman said of two first-half tallies. "It's hard when you're not putting the ball in even though you are creating. The thing that we tried to stress before the game was that we're still that team that create and we're going to get chances."
Those chances came as Evergreen controlled the center of the field for the majority of the game. That control led to consistent attacking pressure and to the two first-half goals. "Our midfield has been pretty special this year," Purtteman said. "It's been fun to watch."
The first tally came at 24:16 when midfielder Juan Oropeza slid a pass through the box to Tanner Williams, who had a tap in at the left post. For Williams, it was his third goal of the season.
Juan Lopez scored the game's second goal with 1:19 remaining in the opening period. Though Evergreen had most of the possession, Lopez's goal was surprising by its suddenness. Willie Spurr, another midfielder, passed the ball from the right side to Lopez at the top of the penalty box, where the sophomore took a touch and blistered a shot past diving Knights keeper Joe White and into the lower left corner of the net.
Warner Pacific had one great chance with 11 minutes left in the first half when conference-leading goal scorer Mario Guizar was sent behind the Evergreen defense on a nifty back-heel pass from Jimmy Johnson. Guizar dribbled the ball as Geoducks keeper Angel Guerra moved out to cut down his angle. Guizar's shot caromed off of the outside of the right post and across the end line for a goal kick.
After the first 45 minutes Evergreen owned a 6-3 advantage in shots and both goalkeepers were credited with two saves.
The second half showed Warner Pacific with nine shots to seven for the hosts, but none of the shots troubled Guerra, who recorded four saves during the match to earn his third shutout of the season.
Evergreen had the first good chance of the period but Ethan Sumlin's shot hit the right post inside the first four minutes. Guizar had what amounted to Warner's best second-half chance, that coming with about 26 minutes remaining, but he pulled his shot wide left.
Lopez scored his second goal and the team's third at 65:07, with Oropeza notching his second assist. Oropeza dribbled the ball in from the right wing and centered the ball for Lopez. His shot deflected off of a Warner Pacific defender and beat White to the left side. Lopez now has the team goal lead with four.
White finished with five saves for the Knights.
A total of six seniors played their final home game at Evergreen and they were honored prior to the start of the match. The six are Garrett Lomanto, Alberto Brand, Devin Peterhans, Sebastian Lyons, Albert Anabtawi and Sumlin.
Evergreen, holding down fourth place and seeking one of four CCC postseason playoff berths, returns to action next Saturday, Oct. 25, when it faces Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls, Ore.