SALEM, Ore. – Trailing 1-0 with eight minutes remaining in their season opener, the Corban University Men's Soccer team forced the issue against Stanton University to find two goals in a matter of seconds and emerge victorious with a 2-1 victory in head coach Josh Rios Noonkester's first regular season match as the program leader.
"I'm very proud of the way our group responded after going down one-nil," commented Coach Noonkester. "We were pleased with the chances we created throughout the match and were confident we'd put them away eventually. The resilience of the group was great to see, and all credit goes to them for battling back to win this one late. It's our first match, so there will be many areas we can improve, but to start this way is very positive. We will look to build off this result, recognizing there is so much ahead of us. Thank you to everyone who came out to support our student-athletes in the first of many special contests at the OAC this season."
The first matchup in program history between the Warriors (1-0-0) and Elk (0-1-0) was physical from the initial kickoff, as thirty-five fouls were called and twelve total yellow cards distributed across the ninety minutes of action Thursday evening, with Stanton ending on the wrong end of both of those statistical categories at twenty fouls and seven cards.
The aggressive gameplay resulted in an equal number of shots and opportunities for both programs through the opening forty-five minutes, with Corban and Stanton trading four shots apiece in a scoreless first half. However, with both defensive units having to work overtime to keep clean slates in the opening period, it was inevitable that at least one goal would be scored at some point during the second half.
Enter Elk' defender Timon Okupniak in the 63rd minute, who took advantage of a misplay in the Corban backfield to net Stanton's first goal of the season with an assist from midfielder Victor Malaquias. With the momentum, now clearly on the visiting team's sideline, the Warriors would need to mount a comeback on their home field if they wanted to flip from the loss column to the winner's circle.
In the 83rd minute, Stanton committed a foul ten yards out of the penalty box, setting up a free kick scenario for junior midfielder David Montano. With every Corban position player crashing into the box, one of the Elk defenders attempted to clear the ball just eight feet away from the netting, but instead found the back of his own goal instead and knotted the contest at one goal apiece with just seven minutes and some change separating the two NAIA programs from a season-opening draw.
As precious seconds ticked off the clock, Stanton was presented with a corner kick opportunity, which was immediately cleared by the Warriors' backline. One extra touch deep over the heads of Elk defenders to a sprinting redshirt junior midfielder Irwin Leon is all Coach Noonkester needed to see his program flip a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in just a matter of minutes, as Leon juked the visiting goalkeeper and secured the game-winning goal with less than three minutes to play. All the Warriors had to do over the final 180 seconds was play "keep away" from the Elk and watch their season opener conclude in come-from-behind fashion.
Leon and freshman forward Jose Guzman led the Corban offense with three shots apiece this evening at the Outdoor Athletic Complex (OAC), while Malaquias held the game-high shot mark of four on both sides of the field.
Defensively for the Warriors, redshirt junior goalkeeper Isaac Pureco nabbed his first win of the season after snagging six saves in a complete game effort, while Elk goalkeeper Martim Martins dropped the decision with two goals allowed and three saves.
The Navy and Gold will take the weekend to rest up and prepare for their final scrimmage of the season on Wednesday, August 21st at the OAC against Lane Community College. The following Sunday, Corban men's soccer will travel across Salem to NCAA DIII Willamette University for the 'Battle of the Capital' at 7pm on August 25th.
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