EUGENE, Ore. – Northwest Christian University and George Fox University combined for 31 fouls while the Bruins collected four yellow cards and a red card on Wednesday night as the Beacons men’s soccer team hung on for a 1-0 victory. Taylor Hough scored in the 37th minute of the game for the only goal.
Head Coach Brett Bentley said, “The guys played with a ton of composure tonight. As the game got more physical, our team kept their emotions in check. We responded well to the intensity and speed of the match and really fought for one another. It was a hard-fought victory for sure.”
NCU’s lone goal came during the first half in which the Beacons held an 8-5 shot advantage. As George Fox was launching an attack, Nick Peloquin intercepted a Bruin pass at midfield and quickly sent a through ball to Hough, the Beacons’ lone forward player on offense at that moment. Hough split two Bruin defenders and out-raced them to the top left corner of the keeper’s box, and when George Fox goalie Elliott Davis came out high to challenge him, Hough feinted right, then went left and shot his first goal of the season into the middle of the net.
From that point it became a matter of hanging onto the lead as the Bruins slowly began to even the shot count. By the final whistle the teams came out even with 18 shots and six shots-on-goal each. The difference was the stellar goalkeeping of redshirt freshman Dusty Stephens who collected six saves for NCU, including nice stops on several hard-struck balls by the Bruins. One came from on an indirect free kick just six minutes into the game, while his best save came at the 58:31 mark in the second half when he was in the right spot at the right time to deflect a bullet from 10 yards out.
The Beacons (2-2) will look to achieve just the second three-game winning streak in school history next Tuesday as they welcome Warner Pacific to Mike Kelly Field for the Cascade Collegiate Conference opener. The teams will kick off at 6:00 pm.