EUGENE, Ore. – The beat goes on the Corban University Men's Soccer team (16-2-1), as the Warriors moved into the second round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament with a 3-1 win over the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears (10-7-1).
"We had a good team win today with lots of different guys stepping up. We look forward to the opportunity to move forward in the postseason tomorrow," Warriors' Head Coach Tim Kagey said earlier this evening.
Corban quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute, when sophomore midfielder Andres Labate earned his eighth goal of the season on a rocket into the upper half of the goal, well out of the reach of Bears' goalkeeper Stefan Schenk. The goal ties Labate with sophomore midfielder Alexis Luna for the team lead in both goals and points.
With under a minute remaining in the first half, the Warriors were able to jump on the board once again, as a beautifully placed pass from freshman forward Jaden Dubon gave junior midfielder Gian Gargurevich an opportunity in the box to power one past Schenk for his fourth goal on the year and Dubon's first assist in his true freshman campaign.
The Warriors earned their third goal on a cross from senior forward Reggie Reyes, who sent the ball into the Rocky Mountain penalty box and forced the Bears to clear it, only for a defender to accidently send the cross into the back of their own net for an own-goal.
Rocky Mountain didn't go down quietly in their CCC Tournament appearance, as midfielder Niklas Kneller (one of only five players to score on Corban's CCC Defensive Player of the Year goalkeeper, graduate student Quinn McCallion), sent a strike into the only area of the net that McCallion couldn't reach, giving the Bears a glimmer of hope for a possible comeback.
Unfortunately for Rocky, Kneller's goal came a little too late, as his 83rd minute stood as the final score of the game, providing Corban with the 3-1 victory. Despite the 5-3 advantage in shots on goal, the Warriors were outshot by the Bears, who reached double-digits in shots but couldn't make the most of their opportunities.
The Bears even saw an impressive 9-0 lead in corner kick opportunities, all of which were denied by the Corban defensive unit. McCallion finished the contest with two saves, allowing only the one goal to Kneller in his 16th win of the year.
Corban shared the ball extremely well tonight, with six different Warriors responsible for the six shots on the evening.
Schenk earned a pair of saves as well for Rocky, but his three goals allowed ultimately wrote the Bears their season-ending loss. Kneller led all Rocky Mountain student-athletes with four shots, two of them coming against McCallion.
The No. 25 Warriors will return to the postseason pitch tomorrow evening, as they will face the 2-seeded Oregon Tech Owls in a rematch for the ages at the Les Schwab Sports Park in Springfield, Ore., with kickoff scheduled for 7pm PST.
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