Evergreen, Eastern Battle to 2-2 Double OT Draw
In a tense contest befitting two teams separated by one points in the Cascade Collegiate Conference men's soccer standings, Evergreen and Eastern Oregon battled through two overtimes before finishing in a 2-2 draw on a soggy Sunday afternoon at Geoduck Pitch.
Evergreen (6-2-2 overall, 3-2-2 CCC) sandwiched its goals around two by the Mountaineers (5-3-4, 3-2-3) in a match that saw the visitors finish the day in a sixth-place tie in the conference standings with 12 points compared to the Geoducks sitting in eighth with 11 points.
The Geoducks started well and got onto the scoreboard at 21:19 on the first goal of the season by defender Marcos Borja. Emilio Meraz-Rodriguez hit a corner kick into the box and the ball pin-balled around before falling to the left foot of Borja, and he finished past Eastern keeper Aidan Wright.
The Mountaineers got that goal back at 28:43 when Josh Goodman headed home a corner kick from Carlos Solorio. The tally was the first of the season for Goodman, who rose above the defense to beat Evergreen keeper Ben Stevenson.
Eastern Oregon took advantage of some back Geoduck luck to score their second goal, that one coming at 79:04. Stevenson slipped while taking a goal kick and the ball rolled straight to Solorio, who went one-on-one with Stevenson before slotting the ball into the net.
Facing a deficit and needing one to tie, Evergreen got that goal at 84:24 when Quinn Landrud headed home a corner kick by Meraz-Rodriguez. The goal was the second of the season for Landrud and the assist was the eighth for Meraz-Rodriguez.
The Geoducks had at least two more good chances to win the game but Wright stoned Balmer on a shot in the 72nd minute before Eastern defender Jack Rose cleared a goal-bound shot by Balmer off the line in the 87th minute.
Evergreen finished with 24 total shots, including eight on goal, while Eastern Oregon ended the match with 20 shots, seven of which were on frame. Corner kicks slightly favored the home team, 8-7. Both Stevenson and Wright were credited with five saves.
The Geoducks are back in action at noon Friday when they play the Oregon Tech Owls in Klamath Falls, Ore.