Junior Thomas Brempong fought through numerous NCU defenders Friday en route to scoring his team-leading fourth goal.
NCU Upsets Corban in Conference Opener
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – Behind a hat trick by Northwest Christian's Denton Brown, the Beacons' men's soccer team upset the host Warriors from Corban University, 4-3, Friday afternoon on Warrior Field.
Despite goals by three Corban players that included junior Gus Bermudez (Culver City, Calif.), junior Thomas Brempong (Kumasi, Ghana), and freshman Aaron Kinnes (Gladstone, Ore.), the Warriors' men's soccer team dropped its Cascade Collegiate Conference opener to the visiting Beacons and fell to its conference rival for only the second time in series history.
On an overcast and muggy day in South Salem, Northwest Christian would get on the board with a pair of goals by Denton Brown in the opening eight minutes of play. Brown would begin the scoring in the sixth minute via an unassisted goal from 16 yards out into the lower left corner. Just over two minutes later, Brown would notch his third goal of the season off a corner kick from Beacon teammate Jun Yoon for an early two-goal lead.
Corban would cut its deficit in half in the 23rd minute when Bermudez received a through ball from fellow junior Ruben Lopez (Keizer, Ore.) before going one-on-one with NCU's keeper. The first-year Warrior would put home his third goal of the season thanks to a rolling shot into the lower right corner of the goal that eluded a diving NCU net-minder for Corban's first goal of the afternoon.
Less than five minutes later, Northwest Christian would capture the two-goal advantage once again when T.J. Prentice blasted home a one-timer from 15 yards out that went off the lower right post for the 3-1 NCU lead.
Corban would not go away very easily, as Brempong notched her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 29th minute via a header into the upper left corner. The junior watched a perfectly placed free kick from Bermudez sail up and over the Beacon defense before leaping into the air and putting home the Warriors' second goal of the afternoon.
Northwest Christian would hold the one-goal lead through halftime until the 51st minute when Kinnes notched his first collegiate goal off a combo assist from junior Nolan Dempster (Hillsboro, Ore.) and freshman Ibrahim Haruna (Gomby, Nigeria). Dempster would begin the play with a long throw-in along the far sideline that found the foot of Haruna, who calmly lifted a pass to the awaiting Kinnes before the first-year Warrior blasted home the game-tying goal.
Over the next 30-plus minutes, Corban would have numerous scoring opportunities but could not capitalize enough to take the lead.
In the 82nd minute, NCU would get the eventual game-winning goal from Brown as he rocketed a shot from 45 yards out into the upper right corner en route to completing the hat trick and sending the visiting Beacons into a celebration frenzy.
Freshman goalkeeper Spencer Anderson (Glendale, Ariz.) would register a game-high seven saves on the afternoon, while Northwest Christian's Nick Kratzke would snag six saves en route to picking up the win.
The Warriors would outshoot NCU, 21-19, but could not overcome 11 Beacon shots on-goal over the course of the game.
With today's result, Corban falls to 1-3-1 overall and 0-1-0 in conference play. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian continues its best start in program history improving to 4-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in league action. The Warriors will return to the field tomorrow afternoon – Saturday, September 18th – against the visiting Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Warrior Field.