SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – The Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Men's Soccer Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, are set to begin today at the Willamalane Complex in Springfield, Ore., and the Corban University men's soccer team is looking to repeat its success from the last conference tournament in 2019, when the Warriors ran the table and clinched the CCC Tournament title.
Tournament Central
This year, they enter as the No. 4 seed, set to square off with College of Idaho in the CCC Quarterfinals at 2 p.m. PT.
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The winner of this afternoon's battle will advance to the semifinals tomorrow, where the four remaining teams will be re-seeded before being scheduled.
The Warriors (10-6, 9-4 CCC) and Yotes (9-5-1, 7-5-1 CCC) crossed paths earlier this year, when College of Idaho claimed a 2-1 victory in Caldwell. While this year's regular-season result was favorable to C of I, that hasn't been the story over the past decade, which has been largely dominated by the Navy and Gold. Corban is 14-2-2 against the Yotes over the span of the past 10 years.
Similar to Corban, College of Idaho doesn't rely on one or two primary scorers offensively, and instead employs a variety of weapons in its attack. Caio Pereira, Kristian Quiros (First-Team All-CCC), and Ben Garrick are all tied for the team-lead in goals this fall with six apiece, and the trio usually finds itself at the center of the Yotes' success.
Zac Dean has done the majority of the team's work in goal, starting 10 matches and racking up 26 saves, registering a 1.05 goals-against-average on the season.
For the Navy and Gold, it has been new contributors coming up big each game this fall, with a wide variety of players lending themselves to the squad's success this fall.
Conference Newcomer of the Year Alvaro Arche (four goals, one assist) has been a huge addition to the team, and fellow first-year Warriors Alexis Luna (five goals, one assist) and Reggie Reyes (three goals, four assists) have been integral offensive pieces throughout the fall, as well. Both Reyes and Luna were recognized for their outstanding efforts this season as Honorable Mention All-Conference honorees on Monday evening.
Midway through the season, Mark Ramdeen (three goals, two assists) began to make a name for himself as a shifty and dynamic presence up top, and veterans Matheus Giron (two goals, four assists) and Nate Sherwood (three goals, two assists) have scored more than their fair share of big goals throughout their Warrior careers.
Carlos Llamosa (First-Team All-CCC) has also scored five times this fall as a member of the Navy and Gold back line, which figures to be comprised of Llamosa, All-CCC Honorable Mention Robin Terry, Tristan Erispe, and Freddy Rodriguez.
As good as any keeper in the conference, 2020 NAIA Honorable-Mention All-American Justin Keegan (1.28 goals-against-average, three shutouts, 49 saves) will anchor the squad between the pipes.
Top-seeded Warner Pacific and No. 2 seed Oregon Tech enter this week as the favorites to claim the CCC Tournament title, but with the level of talent possessed within the grouping, anyone could walk away with the hardware. Corban feels more than capable of making a run at the championship, and it will most likely need a CCC tournament title this year in order to garner a berth to the NAIA National Tournament.
The winner of this week's championships—or runner-up, should Warner Pacific win the tournament—will advance to the NAIA Championships.
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