Salem, Ore. – The Corban University Women’s Soccer team (2-0, 0-0) flashed the offensive skills this evening at Sparks Field, blowing out the home team NCAA DIII Willamette University Bearcats (0-0, 0-0) in an exhibition contest, with a 4-0 final score in the battle of Salem schools.
“I’m really pleased with the team’s performance today,” Corban Head Coach Whitney Pitalo shared shortly after the conclusion of the contest.
“We achieved our game goals of holding a shutout, maintaining possession while switching the field, and scoring via a variety of different methods. And I’m happy to see Fatima score her first two goals for Corban!” Pitalo continued.
From the very first minute of gameplay, the Warriors absolutely had their way with the NCAA student-athletes, as they outshot, out-defended, and had significantly less fouls than Willamette en route to their highest single game goal count of 2022.
The goal scoring kicked off in the 17th minute, when sophomore midfielder/forward Shayla Hatfield out sped the entirety of the Bearcats’ defense and slashed a shot across her body from the right side of the penalty box, into the left side of the net.
The next two goals came from the excellent plays of transfer junior forward Fatima Jimenez, who scored her first brace as a Warrior in today’s match. Almost 10 minutes exactly separated Jimenez’ two scores, with the first coming on a fireball shot just outside the penalty box that curved into the upper left corner of the net, leaving Bearcat’ goalkeeper Rachel Compton completely incapable of a save. Sophomore forward Alysia Alvarado was credited with the assist on the play.
Her second goal came in the 69th minute, when she crossed into the penalty box on a feed from senior midfielder Mei Suetsugu and drilled the ball into the upper left corner of the net, no more than five feet away from the endline, and providing Corban with the 3-0 runaway decision late in the contest.
Alvarado jumped into the scoring action Tuesday night as well, scoring unassisted in the 82nd minute by bobbing and weaving through Willamette traffic from just off the halfway line, until she let a beautiful curving ball sail from about two feet outside the penalty box, tipping off Compton’s glove and into the back of the net to end the offensive showcase for the evening.
Corban managed an incredible 20 shots in tonight’s exhibition, 12 of which were on target to count as shots on goal against Willamette. The Warriors also took three more corner kicks than the Bearcats (4 vs 1), and committed just three fouls all game, compared to Willamette’s 10 infractions.
Warriors’ junior goalkeeper Makida Herbert (2-0) recorded her second straight shutout against an NCAA DIII opponent, requiring only two saves to keep the Bearcats off the board tonight. Compton (0-0) doesn’t take the loss due to the exhibition status of the contest for both squads, but did allow four goals and hauled in eight saves.
The Warriors earned a much deserved break this week, as they will put in practice hours over the next four days in preparations for their return home to the Outdoor Athletic Complex on Sunday, September 4th, to battle the Lions of Soka University of America at 7:30pm PDT.
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