SALEM, Ore. – Playing in its final non-conference contest of the 2016 campaign, the Corban University men's soccer team capped off the non-conference slate with a convincing victory over cross-town rival Willamette University, 3-0. For the Warriors, it is the second-straight year in which they have gone through non-conference action without a loss.
"I am really proud of the way our team played today," said Corban head men's soccer coach Aaron Lewis. "The players competed intelligently and with purpose. Our team defending has significantly improved over our non-conference schedule, led in large part by our backline. We have a lot to be optimistic about right now as we prepare for conference play."
Corban wasted no time at all in getting on the scoreboard, as it was junior forward Timur Zhividze who put the Navy and Gold in front. With not even 90 seconds gone off of the scoreboard, junior forward Rolando Velazquez played a perfectly-weighted through ball that split open the Bearcat (2-1) defense, and Zhividze took one touch and then buried his shot to give the Warriors the early advantage.
The score remained that way until early in the second half when senior defender Jacob Young threw the ball in to senior midfielder Kemar Prince, and Prince flicked the ball to the back post where Zhividze was there and ready to finish it home, making it 2-0. For Zhividze, it was his team-leading seventh goal of the 2016 campaign.
In the 72nd minute of play, senior forward Quamie Dinnall bent a ball to the back post off of a free kick, and Young hit a high-looping shot over the top of the goalkeeper and into the goal for his first score of his Warrior career.
Corban closed out the contest from there, boasting a 16-12 shots advantage when all was said and done, resulting in the three-goal triumph.
After the match, Zhividze talked about the big win over Willamette:
On top of the three goals, Corban and junior goalkeeper Jordan Farr earned the Warriors' second-straight shutout, with Farr makng four saves in the win.
Corban (5-0) returns to action next week when it opens up Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play by hosting the University of Great Falls on Friday at 1 p.m., and then Carroll College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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