BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Fourteenth-year head coach Marty Ziesemer joined an elite group of coaches Saturday, as Corban's women's soccer team defeated Rocky Mountain, 2-1, on Warrior Field and handed its head coach career win #150 in the process.

With today's outcome, Ziesemer moves within nine wins of cracking the NAIA's Top 15 for most career wins by a head coach. Among fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference coaches, Ziesemer sits behind only current Concordia head coach Grant Landy as the conference's all-time record holder for wins in a career by a head coach.

"Win #150 feels good," said Ziesemer.  "This really is a testament to some of the great teams and players that I have had over the years, but it also shows that I have been coaching for a long time."

Today's game was the third of four contests at the 2009 Corban Classic, as the host Warriors went 1-1 in two games this weekend. The classic will conclude tomorrow – Sunday, September 13th – when the NAIA's No. 2-ranked Concordia goes head-to-head with the NAIA's No. 18-ranked Carroll in a battle of unbeaten teams.

Corban got the scoring started early in the eighth minute when junior Katie Hanson (Salem, Ore.) took a cross from senior Jessica Matthews (Yelm, Wash.) and rocketed a shot into the upper left hand corner of the goal. Matthews began the play with some nifty foot work along the end line before she slipped a pass back to the wide open Hanson, who deposited her second goal of the season into the back of the goal.

Rocky Mountain nearly tied the game at 1-all in the 39th minute when Morgan Bowe earned a Bears' penalty kick after flicking the ball off a Warrior defender's hand. Fortunately for the Warriors, Lauren Brophy could not convert on the free kick despite getting Corban's keeper out of position. Brophy's kick went wide left, as her shot never had a chance of finding the back of the net and evening the score.

The host Warriors would take advantage of Rocky Mountain's miscue with another goal near the end of the first half. Sophomore Amanda Mendenhall (Windsor, Calif.) teamed with Hanson in the 44th minute, when Corban earned its third corner kick of the opening half. Hanson calmly set up the play from the sideline and lofted a bending pass onto the awaiting head of Mendenhall, who found a seam in the Bears' defense for her second goal of the season.

Corban would hold its two-goal lead into the half and continued to apply the pressure throughout most of the closing 45 minutes. Unfortunately, Rocky Mountain would not quit as the Battlin' Bears pulled with a single goal in the 83rd minute when Kristy Montignani unloaded a shot from 25 yards out that eluded the out-stretched arm of the Warriors' keeper and made the score 2-1. Montignani's goal came off an assist from Allie Beckers, who found the Bears' goal-scorer with a through ball behind Corban's defense.

Rocky Mountain would continue to apply the pressure offensively and nearly knotted the game at 2-apiece on several occasions, but Corban's defense was up to the test and held the Battlin' Bears at bay to earn the slim one-goal victory.

"I felt that we had Rocky on the ropes and they scored on our mistake," commented Ziesemer. "I really was not sweating [near the end] despite them scoring a goal and I just wanted the girls to finish strong. The more we won the ball and passed, the more they ran."

Senior Jennifer Bassett (Keizer, Ore.) played all 90 minutes for Corban and registered four saves en route to picking up her third victory of the season. On the other hand, Rocky Mountain's Brittany Knudtzon gathered a game-high seven saves but could not keep the Warriors' out of the net as she took the hard-fought loss.

With today's result, Corban evens its record at 3-3-1 overall. Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain remains winless at 0-5 overall. The Warriors are back in action on Tuesday, September 15th, when they host NCAA Division II member Western Oregon beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Warrior Field.