Balmer's Goal the Difference for Geoducks
Mitchell Balmer scored the winning goal in the 74th minute as Evergreen defeated visiting Warner Pacific, 2-1, in a Cascade Collegiate Conference men's soccer match played Friday afternoon at Geoduck Pitch.
Balmer netted his second of the season 73:28 into the contest as the Geoducks (4-1-1 overall, 1-1-1 CCC) broke a 1-1 halftime tie and then held off the Knights (3-4-0, 1-1-0) over the closing 16-plus minutes.
Evergreen got on the board first at 14:06 when Quinn Landrud headed home a cross from Emilio Meraz-Rodriguez, who picked up his fourth assist of the season. Landrud, a junior defender, scored his first as a Geoduck after transferring from Pierce College.
Warner Pacific got the goal back about 2 ½ minutes later – at 16:30 to be exact – when Cesar Contreras was on the spot to tap in a rebound after Evergreen goalkeeper Ben Stevenson had palmed away a goal-bound header by Octavio Hermosillo. The touch was the first of the game for Contreras, who had entered as a substitute about 30 seconds before.
The hosts had a slight 8-7 shot advantage while Warner Pacific had the corner kick edge, 3-2, through the opening 45 minutes.
The second half statistics went the way of the Knights, who had eight shots to just three for Evergreen, but it was the home team that scored the winner. Landrud, the scorer of the first goal, sent Balmer loose down the right wing and the junior forward hit his shot back across the face of goal, beyond the reach of Warner Pacific keeper Juan Inzunza and into the far-side netting.
The Knights had a 15-11 edge in shots, including 6-5 in shots on goal, and took five corner kicks to three for the Geoducks. Stevenson finished with five saves for Evergreen while Inzunza was credited with three stops for the visitors.
Both teams are back in action tomorrow, Evergreen hosting Multnomah and Warner Pacific playing at Northwest University.