Jordan Farr recorded another shutout in Corban's 1-0 victory over SOU on Friday. (Photo Credit: JD Smith)
SALEM, Ore. – Thanks to another shutout and a second-half goal on Friday afternoon, the No. 14 Corban University men's soccer team registered its eighth-straight victory to begin the 2015 campaign, winning by a final score of 1-0 over Southern Oregon University. For the Warriors, they maintain their perfect goals-against-average for the season and begin Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play with three-straight wins.
"Credit to the Raiders for being very organized and difficult to break down," said Warrior head coach Aaron Lewis. "I think if we continue to get results, we may see a similar approach against us moving forward. We will keep looking to improve in our ability to generate spaces within our opponents' lines."
A very organized team defensive effort from SOU all afternoon long kept the Warriors at bay, and especially in the first half, the Navy and Gold had a hard time breaking down the Raiders' defense. Offensively, SOU had a fantastic opportunity midway through the first stanza, as the ball fell to the feet of Brendan Allen about 12 yards from goal, but he blasted his shot over the top, failing to give the Raiders the lead.
Later in the first stanza, a ball got flicked through the SOU defense following a Warrior free kick, and Corban junior midfielder Armando Guevara (Salem, Ore.) found the ball right at his feet. Unfortunately for the Warriors, he was unable to redirect it from six yards out on goal, sending the game to halftime tied 0-0.
In the second stanza, Corban came out firing, and Warrior junior midfielder Jacob Young (Gresham, Ore.) had a golden opportunity to put Corban in front as he was by himself in behind the SOU defense, but he didn't hit his shot how he wanted, seeing it go wide of the goal.
The Warriors finally found the goal they were looking for in the 65th minute when freshman forward Nic Farr (Turner, Ore.) rose above the Raiders' defense and banged a powerful header into the top-right corner of the goal off a nice curling corner-kick from junior midfielder Nathaniel Cheney (Clarkston, Wash.). For Farr, it was his fourth score of the year
"Nic continues to be a force in the air, and with his technical ability on the ground, he is a matchup problem for other teams," said Lewis.
Following that goal, the Navy and Gold drew a penalty kick, and after scoring the original shot, the referee said no goal due to players entering the box early, so on the second attempt, the Warriors had the penalty-kick saved by SOU goalkeeper Tyler Luebbert, keeping the Raiders within one goal.
From that point on, SOU came out of their defensive shell and created some opportunities late, including a last-second shot that sailed just over the top of the goal, seeing Corban keep the shutout and record its eighth win of the year.
For Corban, junior midfielder Kemar Prince (Kingston, Jamaica) led the way with five shots, while Guevara tallied four shots on the day. Corban registered an 18-7 shots advantage and a 5-4 corner-kicks edge in the win.
For SOU (7-3, 2-3 CCC), Brendan Allen tallied two shots on the afternoon to lead the way for the Raiders. Lubbert notched four saves in goal.
Warrior sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Farr (Turner, Ore.) continued with his solid distribution and notched one save on the day in his seventh shutout of the season. He talked about the win following the match in a post-game interview:
Corban (8-0, 3-0 CCC) returns to action tomorrow when it hosts Oregon Tech at Warrior Field. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. If you can't make it to the match, be sure to follow along via live stats and the live video feed.