Meraz-Rodriguez Scores Hat Trick in Evergreen Win
Emilio Meraz-Rodriguez scored Evergreen's first hat trick since the 2015 season in leading the Geoducks past the visiting Walla Walla University Wolves, 4-0, in a Cascade Collegiate Conference men's soccer match played Friday afternoon on rain-soaked Geoduck Pitch.
Meraz-Rodriguez scored on a spectacular flying side volley in the second minute, added his second in the 53rd minute and made it three on the day with a penalty kick in the 55th minute. The senior forward also contributed to Evergreen's fourth goal with an assist on a strike by K'gnausa Yodkerepauprai in the 56th minute.
The last time an Evergreen player scored a hat trick came on Oct. 3, 2015 against Walla Walla when both Tanner Williams and Juan Lopez netted three times in an 11-0 victory.
The game's first goal came at 1:41 from Meraz-Rodriguez, who laid out and met a deflected pass from Christian Segovia with a clean side volley. The Geoducks continued to pound at the net, getting off 14 shots in the first half. The three-goal flurry in three minutes early in the second half broke open the match and gave the Geoducks a deserved three points. The game's second goal came at 52:15, the third at 54:50 and the fourth at 55:10.
With a comfortable four-goal cushion, Evergreen head coach John Purtteman was able to clear his bench with the seven substitutes playing a minimum of 29 minutes each.
The Geoducks (5-2-1 overall, 3-2-1 CCC) dominated the match against the Wolves (0-12-0, 0-7-0), who played hard throughout the 90 minutes but without finding the back of the net against the Evergreen defense. Freshman Tristan Glaser got his first start in goal and picked up one save in 45 minutes, with senior Ben Stevenson finishing the game and getting two saves. The combined shutout was the sixth of the season for the Geoducks.
Evergreen put 12 of their 26 total shots on goal, forcing seven saves from two Walla Walla keepers in addition to a defensive clearance off the line.
The Geoducks return to conference action at 3 p.m. Sunday when the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers visit Geoduck Pitch.