Zimmerman Brothers Deliver the Win for Geoducks
TACOMA – Brothers Jordan Zimmerman and Jake Zimmerman teamed up on the match-winning goal in the 69th minute Saturday afternoon as The Evergreen State College opened its 2016 men's soccer season with a 4-3 victory over the host Puget Sound Loggers at Peyton Field.
Jordan's header from Jake's corner kick gave the Geoducks (1-0) the win in a contest that saw them build a 3-0 halftime lead before the Loggers (3-1) rallied to tie the score with three goals in the first 20 minutes of the final half.
"That was a great team win," Evergreen head coach John Purtteman said. "After going up 3-0, giving up a couple of goals and the lead, and then to come back with a huge header to win the game, to fight through the adversity, was fantastic. Our team got better today."
The primary question surrounding the Geoducks entering the season has been this: With the top three goal scorers gone from the record-setting 2015 team, who is going to score the goals?
The answer on this day came from four different players. Junior midfielder Kevin Elliott-McCrea opened the tally at 12:28, taking a pass from Ryan Porch and hitting a volley over keeper Wren Norwood and to the far upper corner of the goal.
Senior forward Charlie Kramer made it 2-0 at 24:47 – less than two minutes after entering as substitute – when he ran onto Elliott-McCrea's through ball and slotted it home under Norwood.
Evergreen increased its advantage to 3-0 when freshman forward Miguel Viramontes hit the back of the net from five yards outside the box.
Both teams took eight shots in the first half, though Puget Sound had a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks at that point.
The Loggers, a perennial Division III Northwest Conference contender, scored three unanswered goals between the 50:07 and 65:03 marks of the second half, but that only led to the the Evergreen brother connection. Sophomore defender Jordan Zimmerman rose to head home the corner kick provided by junior midfielder Jake Zimmerman at 68:19.
Evergreen sophomore Ben Stevenson made three saves to pick up the win in goal.
Final statistics showed the Geoducks with 17 shots compared to 16 for the Loggers, while corner kicks (9) and saves (3) were even.
The Geoducks open Cascade Collegiate Conference play next Friday when Eastern Oregon comes to Geoduck Pitch for a 1 p.m. kickoff.