KIRKLAND, Wash. - Thanks to a goal in the 87th minute from Warrior junior midfielder Armando Guevara (Salem, Ore.), the No. 15 Corban University men's soccer team came from behind on Friday afternoon to defeat Northwest University on the road, 2-1. For the Warriors, the win keeps them in second place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) standings heading into Saturday's showdown with The Evergreen State College.
Click the 'Play Button' on the story photo above for video highlights and a post-game interview from the match.
"Even though we gave up a goal first, I thought we established early that we had the ability to both get behind, and work the middle," said Corban head coach Aaron Lewis. "Today we had chances to do both, and the game was to continually sort out when to do either."
Corban (15-2, 10-2 CCC) junior forward Quamie Dinnall (May Pen, Jamaica) ripped a shot in the 12th minute off the right post, but to no avail as it fell into the hands of the goalkeeper. On the next transition down the field, Northwest capitalized and scored to take a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute of play, as Chris Iacolucci scored off an assist from Odason Pelogi.
Unfazed, the Warriors continued to posses and worked the ball down the left side, and Dinnall once again ripped a shot off the left post this time, but the ball rebounded right to the feet of Warrior freshman forward Nic Farr (Turner, Ore.), and Farr made no mistake, one-timing his shot into the open goal to level the match at 1-1.
The scored remained tied at halftime, despite the Warriors holding a 10-3 shots advantage.
In the second stanza, the Warriors continued to knock on the door, but were unable to find what they were looking for early on. Defensively, Northwest had a golden opportunity midway through the stanza, but Corban sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Farr (Turner, Ore.) made a diving save to keep the Eagles at bay.
Then in the waning moments of regulation, Warrior junior midfielder Mykenze Caswell (Eugene, Ore.) played a left-footed cross along the top of the six-yard box, and Guevara was there waiting to pounce, using his chest to redirect the ball into the back of the net for Corban to put the Warriors in front with 3:32 left on the clock.
Still, Northwest (9-8, 7-5 CCC) would not go down quietly, forcing Farr into a fantastic foot save and then a full-stretch diving save to his right with just over a minute left to seal the CCC road triumph.
For the match, Farr finished with six saves, while the Warriors outshot Northwest, 16-13. Guevara totaled a team-best six shots, while Dinnall recorded four. Dinnall did notch his team-leading 18th assist on the year on Farr's goal, continuing to extend his program record for single-season assists.
Corban returns to action tomorrow in the 2015 regular-season finale when it travels south to Olympia, Wash., for a matchup with The Evergreen State College. The two teams split the series last year, with the road team winning on both occasions. Saturday's game is set for a 12 p.m. start.
