Corban fell to Northwest on Wednesday, 1-0.
SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University men’s soccer team outshot the Northwest University Eagles on Wednesday afternoon, but Northwest came out on top via a second-half Taylor Young goal en route to a pivotal 1-0 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) triumph for the visiting Eagles. Wednesday’s match was played on the campus of Willamette University due to field conditions at Corban.
With the loss, the Warriors fall into third place in the CCC standings while sitting on 25 points. The victory for Northwest vaults them past Corban into a tie for first place with Concordia with 27 points, although Concordia has one less game played and owns the tiebreaker vs. Northwest as well.
The first half began with some good chances for both sides. Corban had a couple of good opportunities early on when senior midfielder Josh Noonkester (Salem, Ore.) put a header just over the top of the crossbar, and senior defender Daniel Fredrickson (Boise, Idaho) did the same not long after.
The Eagles notched the next good opportunity of the half when Kyle Zimmerman blasted a bouncing ball towards the back of the net, but Warrior senior goalkeeper Steven Mason (Santa Rosa, Calif.) dove and made the one-handed save, touching the ball over the top of the goal.
Corban recorded the next close chance when Fredrickson put another header on goal, but Northwest goalkeeper Daniel Christenson made a fantastic reaction save, keeping the Warriors off the scoreboard. Late in the first stanza, Corban senior forward Arsinio Walker (Kingston, Jamaica) got behind the Eagles’ defense, but Walker ripped his shot high and over the goal, leaving the match scoreless at the halftime break.
During the first 45 minutes, Corban outshot Northwest, 12-2, while the Eagles tallied six corner-kicks to four for the Warriors.
The second stanza saw Northwest garner a couple of close opportunities early on, with Jacob Weaver getting behind the Warriors’ defense and had a one-on-one opportunity with Mason, but Mason sprawled to his left to make the one-handed save, keeping the game at 0-0. On the ensuing corner, Northwest blasted another shot on frame, but once again, Mason was up to the challenge and made the diving save.
Northwest (13-3-0, 9-3-0 CCC) found the breakthrough it was looking for in the 64th minute when Young received a pass from Trevor Moll. After taking a couple of touches, Young blasted a low shot from 15 yards to the near post and found the back of the net, giving the Eagles the 1-0 lead. For Young, it was his 10th goal of the campaign.
After surrendering the goal, Corban knew it needed to find a response. While a few shots were hit over the top in the final 20 minutes and one shot was saved, Corban’s best opportunity came in the final minute of the contest when a ball was played to the back post, and sophomore midfielder Kemar Prince (Kingston, Jamaica) jumped to kick the ball and keep it from going out of bounds. He connected with the ball and it fell right to Walker who one-timed his shot into the goal, but the far-side linesman deemed the ball to be out of bounds, resulting in a goal kick, ultimately ending the contest in favor of the visiting Eagles.
Northwest outshot Corban in the second half, 7-6, while Corban tallied six corners to just one for the Eagles. For the match, Corban led in the shot department, 18-9, while also holding the corner-kick edge, 10-7,
Christenson made six key saves in the win for the Eagles, while Mason tallied five saves in the loss.
Walker registered a team-best six shots for the Warriors, while Fredrickson racked up three. For the Eagles, Young and Jonathan Ellis both recorded three shots.
“Northwest has done a good job defensively of keeping us from finding ways to finish,” said head coach Aaron Lewis. “In the two matches that we have played, they have made the most of their chances, and have deserved to win. It is now up to us to make adjustments as a group if we are to make a run in the playoffs.
Corban (10-5-1, 8-3-1 CCC) returns to action on Saturday when it takes on The Evergreen State College. Stay tuned for time and location of the match. Prior to the start of the contest, all of the Corban seniors will be honored as it will be Senior Day.