SALEM, Ore. – The No. 23 Corban University Men's Soccer team (14-1-1, 9-1-1) escaped an upset on a rainy Oregon day, scoring in the final minute of their contest with the Oregon Tech Owls (9-1-3, 8-1-1) to force their first tie in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play.
"Exciting game today, I thought we deserved more but the ball didn't bounce our way," Corban Head Coach Tim Kagey said earlier this evening. "We are focused on the next one and look to improve."
In a contest that featured no shortage of offense, the Warriors and Owls battled tooth and nail for 90 intense minutes, with both teams scoreless at the halftime break. Twelve minutes after the stoppage, the Owls were able to strike on an opportunity that fell right into their laps, with a cross going uncleared in Corban's penalty box.
As OIT forward John Sarna tipped the ball into the right side of the box, midfielder Cade O'Neill was granted a golden opportunity against Warriors' graduate student goalkeeper Quinn McCallion, pushing the ball past him for the first goal of the afternoon.
Despite countless opportunities, the Warriors came up empty handed time and time again against the relentless Oregon Tech defensive front, before a miracle came in the 90th minute.
With less than a minute remaining, Corban was granted one final corner kick opportunity. As the ball sailed into the penalty box for the second time after the long corner kick, three different Warriors got their feet on the ball before sophomore midfielder Andres Labate struck on a rebound off Owls' goalkeeper Joel Witts. The goal marks Labate's seventh of the season, coming at the perfect opportunity for the Warriors to earn a draw with an extremely potent Oregon Tech squad.
McCallion (14-1-1) earns his first draw of the season to stay undefeated on his home turf, hauling in five saves in the process. Witts (9-1-3) nearly survived the onslaught of Warrior attacks with five saves to pick up his tenth win of the year, but the final gambit from Labate gives him his third tie of the season instead.
The Warriors and Owls held nearly identical offensive stat lines, with Corban holding a slight 13-12 advantage in shots and both squads recording six shots on their opposing goalkeepers. Both of the goal scorers for each squad commanded their offenses this afternoon, with Labate leading the Warriors in both categories with five shots and three of them coming on goal, while O'Neill recorded four shorts and three shots against McCallion.
The No. 23 Warriors will look to earn a victory at the OAC one final time this season, as Corban Men's Soccer will play in their final regular season home of the 2022 year tomorrow at 12:30pm PDT. Senior Day festivities will occur at the conclusion of the game against the Raiders of Southern Oregon University (10-5-0, 7-3-0) tomorrow afternoon.
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