LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Corban University women's soccer team stood toe-to-toe with the defending Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament Champions on Monday, taking a gritty battle down to the wire against No. 10-ranked Eastern Oregon University.

At the conclusion of a hard-fought 90 minutes, the hometown Mountaineers would end up holding on to a 1-0 victory, spoiling Corban's season opener.

"I'm very proud of the way we played today," said interim head coach Tim Kagey. "We showed that we can play against a national tournament team, and we are looking forward to our next match."

The lone goal of the game came in the 20^th minute, when EOU's Morgan Farrington found the back of the net, assisted by Erika Skindlov.

The two teams were evenly matched throughout the bout, with both squads managing to fire off 10 shots in the defensive battle.

To put that in perspective, the high-powered Eastern Oregon offense was limited to 10 or less shots in just three games in 2019, and two of those came against nationally-ranked opponents at the NAIA National Tournament.

Four of the Navy and Gold's shots came off the foot of electric newcomer Juliana Pires, while Moe Sato (three shots) and Chanel Garcia (two shots) also created some opportunities on the offensive end.

Pires, Sato, and Emma Rosner each put one on frame in the contest, but Mountaineer keeper Kiara Fontanilla was up the task, notching three denials en route to the shutout win.

Meanwhile, rookie Devan Archer performed admirably in net for the Warriors, tallying a trio of saves in her Navy and Gold debut.

Despite the loss, the Warriors walk away with plenty to be excited about. Though this will be the only occasion these two teams match up in the 2020-21 regular season, the Navy and Gold have already shown themselves plenty capable of playing alongside the CCC's best, and will look to build upon today's season opener with conference play just around the corner.

Corban (0-1) will now set its sights on NCAA Division I opponent Portland State University, with the two squads set to meet in an exhibition match at 4 p.m. on this Saturday, February 27. As it stands, it will be the squad's final tune-up before the CCC slate begins on March 7-8.