KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Junior Kaleb Herring (Waco, Texas) attempted to lead the offense and senior goalkeeper Aaron Franklin (Red Bluff, Calif.) tried to anchor the defense, but Corban's men's soccer team fell to first-year program Oregon Tech, 2-0, Wednesday evening at Trevor Derrah Field.
After securing back-to-back one-goal victories last week, Corban traveled to the southern part of the state to play its first conference game in program history against the newly-formed men's soccer team at Oregon Tech.
After a scoreless opening 37-plus minutes, OIT's Ivan Van Der Zwan registered the eventual game-winner on an unassisted goal. Without any help in the end, Van Der Zwan dribbled around a pair of Warrior defenders before unleashing a shot on the run that got past Franklin en route to snapping the third-year keeper's scoreless streak at 227 minutes and 33 seconds.
In what would turn out to be a very evenly matched opening 45 minutes, Corban could not capitalize on any of its eight first half shots which gave the host Hustlin' Owls a one-goal advantage at halftime.
The score would remain 1-0 in favor of Oregon Tech until the 51st minute when Devin Torrey notched his second goal of the season off an assist by Van Der Zwan. The play began when Van Der Zwan sent a pass through the box to an oncoming Torrey, who finished the play with a shot that got past Franklin for the final margin of two goals.
The Warriors would control the final half, but could not come away with a goal despite out-shooting OIT by four (7-3) and holding a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks over the game's final 45 minutes.
Herring's game-high five shots, including four on goal, led a Warrior offense that registered 15 total shots compared to Oregon Tech's 11.
Franklin played the entire 90 minutes between the pipes for the Warriors and registered a team-high seven saves. Meanwhile, OIT's Travis Billie manned the Hustlin' Owls' net for the entire game and recorded a game-high eight saves en route to picking up his second straight shutout.
With the loss, Corban falls to 4-6-1 overall, including a 2-3-0 mark in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Oregon Tech improves to 3-6-1 on the season, including 2-2-0 in CCC action. The Warriors while return to the field on Wednesday, October 8th, when they travel north to Olympia, Washington to take on the Geoducks of The Evergreen State College beginning at 4:00 p.m.
