EUGENE, Ore. – Breaking a 12-game winless streak in the series, the Northwest Christian University men's soccer team opened conference play on Friday night with a 2-1 victory over Northwest University. It was NCU's first win over the Eagles since 2010.
The Beacons (2-3, 1-0 CCC) scored twice in the first half and held off a strong second-half surge from the Eagles that saw the visitors cut the deficit in half, and continue to apply pressure despite playing a man-down for the final 20 minutes. NU (1-2-1, 0-1) finished the night out-shooting the Beacons 15-13 including a 7-6 edge in shots-on-goal.
NCU Head Coach Benny Flores said, "I am really proud of the boys. They came out and played with skill and urgency. Northwest is always a very good team and I know it's been a while since we beat them."
NCU's first strike came in the 13th minute when a corner kick from Ian Hernandezfound the noggin of Blake Doran (pictured) at the goal-line for the indefensible score.
Less than eight minutes later, a Beacon was fouled in the box to set up a penalty kick. Senior Alex Abalan was up to the task, hitting the back of the net to give the Beacons a 2-0 lead just 20 minutes into the game.
Northwest's strike came in the 55th minute as Lucas Mota Silviera found a loose ball and fired a grounder through multiple players, slipping it past NCU's Julian Hernandez whose vision on the ball was blocked by traffic.
Hernandez picked up his second victory of the season, making five saves to secure just the second victory ever for the Beacons in a Cascade Conference opener. Agazi Birkner made four saves for the Eagles.
The Beacons will return to action on Saturday afternoon as they play host to The Evergreen State College at 5:00 pm. The Geoducks fell to No. 22 Corban on Friday, 3-0. Northwest will head to Salem to take on Corban, also at 5:00 pm.