No. 17 Corban Men’s Soccer Falls at No. 23 Westmont, 3-1

9/8/2018 3:39:00 PM

Danny Day, Assistant Athletic Director - External Operations

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The chances were there on Saturday for the No. 17-ranked Corban University Warriors, but a few point-blank misses and some defensive lapses led to No. 23-ranked Westmont College (Calif.) edging Corban, 3-1. For the Navy and Gold, it marks the squad's first defeat of 2018.

"Both teams had stretches where we were able to accomplish what we wanted to; unfortunately for us, they were able to capitalize more than we did in the first half, and that made us chase the game more than we wanted to," said Corban head coach Aaron Lewis. "This experience will be invaluable for us heading into conference play."

Westmont's first two chances of the game found the back of the net, and the home side took a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.

Late in the first stanza, however, Corban gained the momentum and struck a well-deserved goal off the foot of Levan Zhividze, halving the deficit headed into the halftime break.

In the second half, Corban threatened time and time again, getting in great spots in front of goal, but Westmont's goalkeeper and defense rose to the occasion, making tremendous point-blank saves while also blocking Corban's shots, ultimately keeping Corban off of the scoreboard in the second half.

Late on in regulation, a corner-kick for the home Westmont (3-2-1) side led to a header goal, sealing the victory for the No. 23-ranked squad in the country.

Corban (3-1) will return to the pitch next weekend when it hosts The Evergreen State College on Friday at 1 p.m. and Northwest University on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Both matches will mark the first Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) games of the year.