Spurr's Penalty Kick is the Difference for Geoducks
Willie Spurr converted a penalty kick in the 77th minute to provide The Evergreen State College with the deciding goal in a 2-1 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's soccer victory over the visiting College of Idaho Coyotes on Friday afternoon at Geoduck Pitch.
Spurr's fifth goal of the season came after teammate Tanner Williams was pulled down in the penalty box while dribbling the ball toward the College of Idaho goal. Spurr went to the right side of the net to beat 'Yotes goalkeeper Grant Billings, who guessed the wrong way.
After a scoreless first half that saw Evergreen (11-2-0 overall, 8-2-0 CCC) get off six shots compared to three for the 'Yotes, the host team got on the scoreboard first on a 25-yard blast by Martin Ramirez at the 60:42 mark. Ramirez ran onto the ball after a shot by Issa Hassan was blocked by a College of Idaho defender, and he unleashed a rocket that left Billings with no chance. It was the first goal of the season for Ramirez.
Less than two minutes later, at 62:35 in fact, College of Idaho (7-5-0, 6-5-0) knotted the score on a header from Mehmed Selimovic following Jorge Brambila's cross from the left wing. Selimovic beat Evergreen keeper Angel Guerra for his seventh goal of the season.
Both teams battled to get the go-ahead goal, which Spurr eventually converted from the penalty spot at 76:35.
The Geoducks had a clear 17-5 advantage in shots, but College of Idaho took six corner kicks to just three for the hosts. There were a total of 31 fouls and seven yellow cards in the physical contest.
Guerra allowed the one goal and did not have to make a save, while Billings allowed two goals and recorded three saves.
Evergreen stays in the hunt for the conference regular season title with the win and at 2 p.m. Saturday hosts CCC leader and No. 12-ranked Rocky Mountain (15-1-0, 11-1-0), which defeated Northwest University by a 2-1 score on Friday.