Goalkeeper Scott Gross made his first career start on Tuesday against Corban.
CU Shuts Out Warriors for Eighth Straight Win
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. Corban
SALEM, Ore.—Facing the only team they’ve trailed in conference play this season, the No. 18 Concordia men’s soccer team beat Corban 1-0 on Tuesday to begin the second half of the CCC schedule.
Concordia improved to 9-2-1 overall with the win and stayed a perfect 8-0-0 in the CCC. Corban, meanwhile, dropped to 4-5-3 overall and 3-4-1 in the CCC.
Concordia had to shake off a game Corban squad to record the win though, as the Warriors shut out the Cavalier offense in the first half, the first time Concordia had been shut out in a half since the Warriors kept the Cavaliers out the goal in the first half of their match on Sept. 11.
However, the Cavs finally broke through in the 48th minute of the match on Tuesday when Concordia’s Septi Danciu converted a penalty kick to put the Cavs up 1-0.
Still, the Cavaliers had no room for error after the goal, as Corban outshot Concordia 6-to-3 over the rest of the match. That total included a 4-to-1 advantage in shots on goal and came on top of a first half that saw the Warriors outshoot the Cavaliers 13-to-8.
The Cavalier defense withstood the Warriors’ barrage though, and became the first team to shut out the Warriors this season.
Goalkeeper Scott Gross played all 90 minutes of the shutout for Concordia, despite the match being his first career start for the Cavaliers. The Warriors made Gross earn the shutout too, as the junior saved 10 shots in the match.
The 10 saves put Gross in rare company at Concordia, as a Cavalier goalkeeper has not saved that many shots in a match since honorable-mention NAIA All-American Garret Staples saved 11 shots in the Cavs’ match against Concordia-Irvine on Nov. 22, 2008.
In addition, two of Gross’ ten saves came in the final 10 minutes of play on Tuesday, as the first-time starter helped Concordia close out the match.
Overall, the Warriors outshot Concordia 19-to-13 on Tuesday, while the teams both earned seven corners.
Next up, Corban will return to action on Saturday when the Warriors travel to The College of Idaho for a match at 3 p.m.
Concordia, meanwhile, travels to Evergreen State for a match at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13.