Men's Soccer Quarterfinals Recap
EUGENE, Ore. – Three shutouts and a golden goal dominate the headlines in the opening round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s Soccer Championship Tournament presented by U.S. Bank.
#1 Southern Oregon 1, #8 Oregon Tech 0
The top-seeded and No. 10 ranked team in the NAIA survived an intense defensive struggle against a spirited Oregon Tech team. Despite playing a man down for nearly 64 minutes after an early second-yellow card was called, Oregon Tech hung close with the Raiders. SOU finished the match with just a 9-8 shot advantage with the teams combining for four shots-on-goal.
The game winner came in the fourth minute of the second half, courtesy of Pessoa de Olivera who scored off a corner kick from Luis Aguilar. The win also gave a shutout to junior keeper Wyatt Zabinksi who made one save in registering the clean sheet.
#7 Carroll 3, #2 Corban 2 (OT)
Sophomore Nick Lowrimore scored his second goal of the game in the seventh minute of the second overtime to lift the seventh-seeded Carroll College Fighting Saints to the victory over No. 16 Corban. The winning goal came after Corban had tied the game with a hair over two minutes remaining in regulation on a Kohl Hurtado penalty kick.
Corban had gotten onto the board first as Levan Zhividze drilled a 30-yard free kick into the upper V. Late in the first half the Fighting Saints were awarded a penalty kick and Jose Porras connected to send the teams into the intermission knotted at 1-1. Lowrimore put the Saints ahead just 24 seconds into the second half as he scored off a cross from Paolo Georgiades.
Corban finished the game with a 16-14 advantage in shots while the Saints owned an 8-5 advantage in shots-on-goal. Kaden Connor picked up the win, recording three saves.
#3 Rocky Mountain 2, #6 Evergreen 0
CCC Offensive Player of the Year Nolan Sherwood scored the game-winner in the 20th minute and Sky Swenson added an insurance goal midway through the second half as the third-seeded Battlin’ Bears rolled into the semifinals.
Kristopher Wennin needed to make just one save in registering the clean sheet as RMC out-shot the Geoducks 21-8 including a 10-1 margin in shots-on-goal.
#4 Eastern Oregon 2, #5 Providence 0
In the fiercest battle of the day, featuring 36 combined fouls and nine cautions, Eastern Oregon emerged with the shutout and a trip to the next round. Both teams took four shots-on-goal in the contest, but the Mounties connected on two of them in a nine-minute span in the first half.
Carlos Solorio posted the first score of the match in the 26th minute, dribbling through the box and beating the keeper 1-on-1 for the score. Then in the 34th minute it was Jack Rose’s turn, hitting a ten-yard strike off a Josh Goodman corner kick to give EOU a cushion that ultimately proved unnecessary.
The winning teams advance to the semifinals on Thursday night, beginning at 7:00 pm. Top-seeded Southern Oregon will take on No. 7 Carroll College while #3 Rocky Mountain and #4 Eastern Oregon will face off in the other battle.