PORTLAND, Ore. – A penalty kick in the 83rd minute is all it took for the No. 19 Corban University Men's Soccer team (10-1-0, 5-1-0) to finally drop a game after a historic start to the 2022 season, as the (RV) Warner Pacific University Knights (11-0-0, 6-0-0) took advantage of their home field advantage to hand the Warriors their first loss in almost a year.
"Tough result today. We will look to rebound next week in Washington," Warriors' Head Coach Tim Kagey briefly shared this evening.
Today was a first experience of many for Warrior' Men's Soccer fans, as the Knights held the upper hand in shots, shots on goal, fouls, and corner kicks in an extremely physical game. With 10 yellow cards in total being dealt out today, both teams were working extra hard to gain that upper hand in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) standings.
In the end, over physicality is what ended up costing the Warriors, as a foul in the penalty box gave Warner Pacific the momentum they needed to put Corban graduate student goalkeeper Quinn McCallion in his first PK scenario of the year.
Despite hauling in a game-high seven saves up to this point of the contest, McCallion couldn't prevent Knights' defender Erik Mattice from scoring the only goal of the year against the Wallingford, United Kingdom native. Despite this result, McCallion has still yet to allow a score in the field of play this season, with the penalty kick score coming with the game clock stopped.
Sophomore dual midfielder/forward threat Andres Labate led the Warriors with two shots today, one of which was on target.
The Warriors did manage to keep the NAIA's leading goal-scorer off the board today, with Knights' forward Andrew Martinez being held scoreless for the first time this season. He recorded a game-high six shots, five of which were saved by McCallion for the 5'10 goalkeeper to win the battle of the unstoppable forces.
No. 19 Corban Men's Soccer returns to their lengthy road trip next weekend, as they head north into Washington to battle the Geoducks of The Evergreen State College and Eagles of Northwest University. Both contests are set to begin at 3pm PDT on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
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