Senior Aaron Franklin was nearly taken out of the game in the first half thanks to a hard slide, but came back and held Warner Pacific to just two goals during his time between the pipes.
Corban Sports Info. Dept.
Senior Aaron Franklin was nearly taken out of the game in the first half thanks to a hard slide, but came back and held Warner Pacific to just two goals during his time between the pipes.

Men's Soccer

Warriors Try to Fend Off Warner Pacific Knights

BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – In its first home conference game of the regular season, Corban's men's soccer team fell to the visiting Knights of Warner Pacific, 2-0, Wednesday afternoon at Warrior Field on a rainy and very cool day in the Capital City.

Looking to pick up its first conference victory of the season, Corban was looking to take advantage of the wet and slippery ground that could possibly slow down the quick-scoring offense of Warner Pacific.

Unfortunately, the Knights struck first in the 11th minute when Alija Sacirovic took a pass from Evan Lehner and deposited it into the back of the net for the contest's opening and eventual game-winning goal. Lehner began the play by lofting a pass behind Corban's defense onto the awaiting head of Sacirovic, who redirected the ball into the lower left corner of the goal beyond the outstretched arms of the Warriors' net-minder.

Warner Pacific's one-goal lead would hold up into halftime, as the Knights continued to apply the offensive pressure and struck for another goal in the 59th minute. A one-two pass from Tyber Parsons to Juan Castillo began the play along the far sideline, as Castillo attempted a crossing pass that slid underneath an oncoming Corban goalkeeper and to a wide-open Ryan O'Dell for the insurance goal.

Corban could not get on track most of the day and did not have a solid scoring opportunity until the waning minutes of the game when junior Ayouba Moussa (Maradi, Niger) used some nifty footwork to elude a Knight defender before unleashing a right-to-left bending shot that Warner Pacific's diving keeper had to send over the end line. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late for the Warriors as the Knights' defense held up under pressure for the two-goal victory.

Senior goalkeeper Aaron Franklin (Red Bluff, Calif.) registered a game-high five saves for the Warriors, while sophomore Nolan Dempster (Hillsboro, Ore.) led Corban's offense with a pair of shots. On the other hand, Sean Ervin recorded three saves for Warner Pacific with Sacirovic unleashed five shots (four on goal) for the Knights.

With today's result, Corban falls to 1-3-1 overall and 0-2-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Warner Pacific improves to 3-2-0 overall and 2-0-0 in CCC action. The Warriors will be back in action on Saturday, September 19th, when they hit the road once again to play The Evergreen State College beginning at 2:00 p.m. in Olympia, Washington.
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