BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Despite a goal in the 56th minute by senior Mark Mendenhall (Windsor, Calif.), Corban's men's soccer team fell to the NAIA's No. 30-ranked Cavaliers of Concordia, 2-1 in overtime, Tuesday afternoon at Warrior Field.

Almost three weeks ago, Corban went head-to-head with Concordia in the Rose City and fell to the then-No. 25-ranked Cavaliers, 3-0, under the lights at Delta Park.

After a scoreless opening 45 minutes today, Corban came out and began applying the offensive pressure. Twelve minutes into the second half, sophomore Nolan Dempster (Hillsboro, Ore.) sent a free kick into the box where he found the head of junior Ayouba Moussa (Maradi, Niger). Without hesitation, Moussa sent the ball towards Concordia's goal where Mendenhall finished the play with his first goal of the season giving Corban the early 1-0 lead.

With a one-goal advantage, Corban began pushing the play towards the Cavaliers' defense and were awarded a corner kick in the 58th minute. Freshman Jin-Hoon Brooks (Dallas, Ore.) began the play from the corner by sending a perfectly lofted pass onto the awaiting head of Moussa. The third-year Warrior rose above the defense and sent a header towards Concordia's goal where it ricocheted off a Cavalier defender and up over CU's goalkeeper. As the crowd held its breath thinking that Corban might grab a two-goal advantage, Concordia's final wall of defense saved the day by clearing the ball away from a wide-open goal before it could find the back of the net.

Clinging to its slim lead for most of the second half, Corban fell asleep for a split second in the 83rd minute when Concordia's Evan Denmark sent a crossing pass into the box that found the head of Mirza Ramic. Not knowing what happened, Corban's goalkeeper and defense watched as Ramic's shot trickled past everyone and into the back to the net for the game-tying goal.

As the seconds were dwindling down in regulation, Corban was hinder by a second yellow card to Moussa with 26 seconds remaining. Moussa's second yellow card turned into an automatic red card, which put the Warriors a man-down disadvantage for the remainder of the game.

Fortunately, Corban was able to hang with the nationally-ranked Cavaliers for the rest of regulation and the opening few minutes of overtime.

In the 93rd minute, Concordia's back-up goalkeeper Jon Wilkins teamed with Facudo Dipascuale for the game-winning goal. Dipascuale began the play with a through ball onto the awaiting foot of Wilkins, who flicked the ball past a diving Corban keeper and into the back of the net for the final score of the afternoon.

Senior net-minder Aaron Franklin (Red Bluff, Calif.) registered a game-high seven saves for Corban that included numerous point-blank shots in the second half by Concordia. On the other hand, CU's Claudio Lazar made three saves for the Cavaliers en route to picking up the win.

With the heart-breaking overtime loss, Corban falls to 1-6-1 overall and 0-5-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Concordia improves to 6-1-1 overall and remains unbeaten in conference action at 5-0-0. The Warriors will return to the field on Saturday, October 3rd, when they host the Eagles of Northwest beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Warrior Field.