Owls Make CCC Playoff for 1st Time in School History after 3-0 Win over Yotes
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The Owls of Oregon Tech headed into the final contest of the CCC season against the Yotes from College of Idaho in a must win situation to make the conference tournament. Tech entered the contest tied for 8th place in the standings with a CCC record of 5-6-1, while the Yotes were out of playoff contention at 3-9.
The Owls came out flying start attacking the Yotes backline from the opening whistle. An early corner kick for the Owls would see the ball served in by Lodewijk Bloemzaad only to find Tech freshman Brennan Gazdik’s head inside the penalty area. Gazdik turned the ball on frame, but was denied by the underside of the cross bar, when the loose ball fell to forward Daniel Blessinger for a tap in goal, sending the Owls up 1-0 in the 4th minute of the game. The first half would continue with some solid back and forth by both teams, with Tech finding 10 shooting opportunities to C of I’s 6. The teams would enter the half with the score line 1-0.
In the second half of play, the Owls picked up the intensity and pushed to find another goal. In the 55th minute, another corner kick served in by Bloemzaad would find Gazdik’s head, only to have the shot denied by a defender. The loose ball would pop out to junior Ian Tarnovsky. With the ball at his foot, and under heavy defensive pressure inside the Yotes’ penalty area, Tarnovsky would lay the ball to the top of the 18 box where sophomore Austin Schoenmann sent a howler into the upper 90, striking the underside of the crossbar, and finishing into the back of the net making the score line 2-0 in favor of the Owls.
5 minutes later the Owls would strike again. A free kick awarded just outside the Yotes penalty area would see the ball clipped into the box by Bloemzaad, where junior Leonardo Alonzo would volley the ball out of the air and past the Yotes goalkeeper for the third and final score of the game.
College of Idaho end their season with an overall record of 4-12 and 3-10 in the CCC. The win for Tech marks two milestones achieved for the men’s soccer program. The 2016 season is the first winning season in program history with a final record of 9-7-2, (6-6-1 CCC), while also marking the first time the program has made the CCC post season. The Owls wait to see who they will be playing on Friday, November 4, in Springfield at the conference tournament, as the final CCC games are played out this evening.