ASHLAND, Ore. – The host team took advantage of their home opener crowd this afternoon at Raider Stadium, as the Corban University Men's Soccer team (0-3-3, 0-1-1) fell on the road to RV Southern Oregon University (7-1-0, 3-0-0) by a final score of 5-1.
"We look to bounce back tomorrow and quickly fix the things that let us down today," Warriors' head coach Corbin Bowers shared. "We had some flashes of good play and were not able to capitalize our chances. Another opportunity to compete at a higher level tomorrow and earn points on the road."
The Raiders took advantage of their home field advantage early against the Warriors, scoring in the 9th minute when the ball went bounding across the penalty box to four different Southern Oregon players before midfielder Adrian Villegas finally took a shot that found it's way into the back of the net. Defender Tybalt Thornberry was credited with an assist on the play.
Ten minutes later, SOU doubled their lead with another similar scenario where the ball was left unattended for far too long on the Warriors' defensive half, allowing midfielder Alex Hjulmand to score after fellow midfielder Alan Gaytan found him in the middle of the penalty box unmanned for the easy score.
With the momentum well on the Raiders' side of the field, forward Evan Norconk saw a breakaway opportunity where he was able to juke multiple defenders and put Southern Oregon in the driver's seat 3-0 heading into the halftime break.
Despite trailing by three goals on the scoreboard, Corban only had two less shots in total and one less on goal, with the difference maker being all three of Southern Oregon's shots on goal being cashed in. The Raiders' maintained a bulk of the possession throughout the half, taking advantage of their opportunities when they found the gaps in the Warriors.
After assisting on the second goal of the game, Gaytan was granted a penalty kick opportunity due to a foul by Corban in the box just two minutes into the second half, where he converted to give his team a 4-0 lead in their home opener.
The Warriors finally broke through in the 56th minute to avoid the shutout, as graduate student forward Evan Hoover scored his third goal of the season with a wide open shot in front of SOU's goalkeeper thanks to a perfect pass from redshirt senior Nate Sherwood.
The fifth and final goal of the game for Southern Oregon came in the 84th minute, with midfielder Sam Walker connecting on a free kick just out in front of the Warriors' penalty box by curving his shot up and over the wall to score as the fifth different goal scorer for the Raiders.
SOU held a 19-12 shot advantage through the contest, with only one more shot on goal to take the 5-1 victory. Raiders' goalkeeper Casey Ruvolo earned the win with four saves and one goal allowed, while redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Isaac Pureco took the loss for the Warriors with one save and five goals allowed.
Redshirt sophomore forward Irwin Leon led the Warriors with three shots, while Hoover connected on his only opportunity of the day for Corban's lone goal. Raiders' Villegas scored a goal and led all players with four shots.
Corban men's soccer will battle another conference foe at the top of the standings tomorrow afternoon, as Oregon Tech (5-1-1, 3-0-0) will host the Warriors for a 12pm kickoff.
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