Click 'Play Button' on photo above for video highlights. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
SALEM, Ore. – With a few players into the lineup that hadn't played previously for the Warriors, the Corban University women's soccer team seemed to be firing on all cylinders on Saturday afternoon en route to a 5-0 trouncing of Sierra Nevada College.
Click the 'Play Button' on the story photo above for video highlights of the goals.
"Overall it was a very well-played game," said Corban head coach Likius Hafeni. "The girls got into a rhythm and with the subs we were able to keep the intensity high. It was really great seeing how the team was able to bounce back from the loss on Thursday."
The Warriors looked like they would strike early, but it was not to be as Sierra Nevada's goalkeeper Rachel Marler made a number of good saves. Corban then drew a penalty kick, but that shot went over the top, keeping the score level at 0-0. The Warriors eventually went in front thanks to a fantastic goal from sophomore midfielder Nadine Correa, as she curled her shot from the left side of the 18-yard box into the right-side netting for her first goal of the 2016 campaign.
Just a few minutes later in the 36th minute after having just subbed into the contest, junior forward Ali Oatridge received a flicked pass off of a throw in, took one touch and then fired her second touch into the left-side netting for the first goal of her Warrior career. For Corban women's soccer, it was the fastest substitution goal in program history, as the goal came a mere seconds after Oatridge had subbed into the contest.
Then in the 42nd minute, Oatridge struck again, as after junior forward Holly Martinez Moorman played a pass to Oatridge, she one-timed her shot over the goalkeeper into the right side of the goal to make it 3-0.
In the first stanza, Corban dominated with 17 shots to zero for the Eagles, and things didn't change in the second stanza thanks to more offensive firepower from the Warriors.
In the 62nd minute, junior goalkeeper Sheyenne Brusven hit a long drop kick over the top of the Eagles' defense, and Warrior freshman forward Annouscka Kordom one-timed a perfectly-weighted pass through to senior forward Randi Donahue. Donahue made no mistake, blasting her shot into the back of the net to put Corban in front by four goals.
The final score came in the 72nd minute when senior Corinne Tank found herself in behind the defense with a one-on-one breakaway, and she buried her shot into the bottom-right corner of the net, sealing the 5-0 victory.
Corban totaled a 29-3 advantage in shots on the afternoon and a 9-1 corner-kick advantage.
After the contest, Oatridge talked about the team win:
Defensively, the Warriors didn't allow the Eagles one good look at goal all afternoon long, locking things up in the defensive third when the ball got there to earn the team's first shutout of the year.
Corban (1-1) returns to the pitch this week when it travels to Illinois for a trio of games. The first match for the Warriors is on Thursday, September 1, vs. Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) at 3 p.m. PST.