SALEM, Ore. – A halftime draw was flipped into a home defeat for the Corban University Men's Soccer team after a pair of costly penalties resulted in a 3-1 loss against NCAA DIII Linfield University, as the Warriors were forced to play down a man for the final twenty minutes of regulation and surrendered two goals to fall to 1-3-0 overall in regular season play.
"We controlled large stretches of the match today and ultimately didn't converge on our numerous opportunities," described Corban head coach Josh Rios Noonkester. "So much of this game is about momentum, and we felt we had it until the red card decision was made. Even after going down a player, we created clear chances, which was very positive and something we could build on moving forward. We will continue to look for solutions to being cleaner in our defensive third. I look forward to our training tomorrow as we look to respond in the right manner. Thank you to all our supporters who were able to join us tonight."
It only took seven minutes into the opening half for the Wildcats to score the first goal of the contest, as a free kick opportunity in the Warriors' (1-3-0) defensive third resulted in header score by forward Luke Smith, assisted by midfielder Sid Kosaris.
Twenty minutes later, the Navy and Gold knotted the game at one goal apiece on their own free kick chance, as junior midfielder Santiago Castano found senior midfielder Grady Thurman in the back of the penalty box for a header goal of his own for his first score of the season. Corban would go on to outshoot the Wildcats 17-10 in the match, yet net only a single goal in the process.
After a handful of scoring plays fell just shy of the back of the net, disaster struck in the 70th minute for the Warriors after a bang-bang collision in their own backfield resulted in a red card being issued for Corban, resulting in an 11-vs-10 advantage for Linfield the remainder of the evening. Five minutes later, midfielder Jamis Gonzalez would find the game-winner to give Linfield the late lead and would later seal the road victory with a third goal by defender Aedan Carroll in the 87th minute.
More offensive shots, corner kick tries, shots on goal, and less fouls for the entire game would stand to prove unsuccessful for the Warriors as they dropped their third game of the season and third consecutively with the start of Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play right around the corner. Redshirt junior midfielder Bryan Lopez led the program in shots (4) and shots on goal (3), while ten different Wildcats all attempted a single shot.
Corban sophomore goalkeeper Miguel Trujillo checked in at halftime and accepted his first decision of the season after allowing two goals with three saves. Linfield goalkeeper Colby Reese played the entire 90 minutes and picked up the victory with one goal against his average and hauled in eight saves along the way.
Corban men's soccer will have over a week to prepare for their final non-conference contest, as they'll travel to Newberg for their first matchup with NCAA DIII George Fox University (1-0-0) in nearly a decade at 7pm on the pitch at Austin Sports Complex.
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