Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler
SALEM, Ore. – The (RV) Corban University women's soccer team may have created more scoring opportunities on Saturday afternoon against Southern Oregon University, but the Warriors ultimately were edged by the Raiders in a tight Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) match, 1-0.
"It was a frustrating weekend," said Corban head coach Likius Hafeni. "I thought we played very well and dominated most of the game, but we could not score. "The conference is still wide open and we will look to improve on our performance next weekend!"
The match started out well for the Warriors, creating two quick chances to begin the game, almost scoring in the second minute of play. In all, the Warriors would rack up 12 shots in the first half, but it was SOU's goalkeeper Hannah Ceciliani that was the difference during the first 45 minutes, making six fantastic saves.
SOU found the breakthrough in the 36th minute of play when Hannah Taie played a looping cross towards the back post, and Brionna Wood got her head on it, putting it into the back of the net to put the Raiders in front at halftime.
In the second half, you could sense the urgency at times from the Warriors, trying to bring the game level, but the Raiders' defense did fantastic job breaking up attacking opportunities that Corban created.
By the end of the match, Corban held the 19-9 shots advantage, but SOU (6-4-0, 3-1-0 CCC) closed out the match well for the 1-0 CCC road triumph. Heidi Fronk led the way with four shots for the Navy and Gold, while both Annouscka Kordom and Holly Martinez Moorman fired off three shots for Corban.
Corban (6-5-1, 3-2-1 CCC) returns to action next week on the road when it travels south to take on Northwest Christian University. Kickoff next Saturday is slated for 7 p.m. in Springfield.