Geoducks Drop 3-1 Decision to Trinity Lutheran
Tia Carrillo scored two goals Thursday afternoon to lead visiting Trinity Lutheran College to a 3-1 non-conference women’s soccer victory over The Evergreen State College at Geoduck Pitch.
Carrillo scored the first and last goals of the match and helped the Eagles improve to 3-6-1 for the season, while the Geoducks are now 1-6-0.
The match was one of contrasts as Trinity Lutheran dominated play in the opening 45 minutes before the Geoducks took control in the final half.
Both teams had good scoring chances in the first period but it was the visiting Eagles who were able to get the ball in the net, and it was leading scorer Breann Morren who provided the assist on both goals.
The first came at 30:34 when Morren laid off a pass to Carrillo, whose 15-yard shot beat Evergreen goalkeeper Kayla Baskett to the upper left corner. A little more than seven minutes later, at 37:46, Morren rolled a pass into open space behind the defense. Jalisa Santiago won the foot race, beating a defender and Baskett to the ball and poking it into the goal.
Evergreen took seven total shots in the opening half, three of them on goal, but all of them were right at keeper Colby Smits.
The Geoducks controlled the ball and the tempo in the second half, ramping up their offensive game while also shutting down Trinity Lutheran’s explosive trio of Carrillo, Morren and Santiago for much of the half.
Evergreen’s dominance finally paid off at 60:29 when Stephanie Yoder was tripped in the box after getting in behind the defense. Yoder, a sophomore forward, stepped to the penalty spot and scored past Smits to make it a 2-1 match.
Within the next several minutes the Geoducks had two great opportunities to take the lead but missed shots kept the score at 2-1 in Trinity Lutheran’s favor. As Evergreen continued to press forward for the tying goal, Trinity Lutheran finally took advantage when Santiago found Carrillo alone at the top of the box, and Carrillo hit a shot just under the crossbar and into the back of the net for the final score of the contest.
In the end the Eagles had a 20-13 advantage in shots and a 2-1 edge in corner kicks. Baskett finished with six saves and Smits had four for the Eagles.
Evergreen returns to Cascade Collegiate Conference action at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, when it hosts Southern Oregon.