SALEM, Ore. – After a scoreless first 45 minutes of play, the Corban University men's soccer team came out with a vengeance in the latter half of Saturday afternoon's 6-1 victory over Bushnell University.
Prior to the start of the contest, Corban honored seven team members—Miles Belanger, Carlos Llamosa, Alex Espana, Miguel Ponce, Matheus Giron, Freddy Rodriguez, and Justin Keegan—who played in their final home matches for the squad this afternoon.
"It was great to get a win on Senior Day," said director of soccer Tim Kagey. "Scoring that many goals was a great way to celebrate the seniors."
Despite the lopsided final score, the first half of Saturday's battle was a low-scoring affair, as the Navy and Gold created a number of opportunities—firing off 16 shots in the first half—without finding a goal.
That narrative quickly changed in the second half, however, as Reggie Reyes kick-started the Warrior offense with a goal in the 52nd minute, finishing off a pass from Andres Labate.
After assisting Reyes' goal, Labate then found the back of the net himself in the 66th minute, doubling the advantage after corralling a ball from Nate Sherwood and blasting it past Beacon goalkeeper Julian Hernandez.
Just 61 seconds later, a Beacon foul in the box gave Corban another opportunity, and the Warriors tabbed senior defender Llamosa to take the penalty kick. The veteran delivered, making it a three-goal deficit in the 67th.
Another senior, Giron, got in on the action in the 74th minute, before Llamosa capped off his brace by heading in a corner from Mark Ramdeen.
CLICK HERE to watch Llamosa's post-game interview.
The Beacons got one back in the 82nd minute, as Fausto Gomez chipped in a goal to cut the deficit to four; however, just three minutes afterwards (84'), Ramdeen got that goal back by cutting past the Bushnell back line and slotting in a brilliant left-foot strike inside the far post.
Playing in the final home match of what has been an incredible career between the posts for the Warriors, Keegan collected a save and earned his ninth victory of the season.
With the win, the Warriors finish the regular season with a 10-6 overall record (9-4 CCC), ranking fourth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) standings.
Corban will now look ahead to the CCC Tournament, which is slated for November 9-12 in Springfield, Ore. Stay tuned for an in-depth preview of the event, which will be release on CorbanWarriors.com next week.
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