OLYMPIA, Wash. – Three goals in a matter of minutes for the host school ended up being too much for the Corban University Men's Soccer team to overcome Saturday afternoon, as the Warriors fell 3-2 on the road to The Evergreen State College in a rare non-conference match between the two Cascade Collegiate Conference members.
"Definitely a game of two halves, we must learn to put together two halves of soccer and carry out a full 90-minute performance if we want to be able to find success in this conference," Warriors' head coach Corbin Bowers shared. "Our second half proves we have the ability to defend as a unit and create quality chances, but we must improve our start to games and grow from this experience."
The Geoducks (1-3) didn't waste any time establishing themselves against a conference foe in Corban (0-2-2), scoring a pair of goals within the first eight minutes with forward Jesus Flores assisting midfielders Alec Zimmerman and Andreas Malunat in a dead sprint to a 2-0 advantage on their home grass field.
Warriors' redshirt sophomore Irwin Leon refused to not be included in the scoring action, finding the back of the net and cutting their deficit in half six minutes later thanks to an assist by freshman midfielder Alejandro Andrade.
Evergreen State extended their lead back to two goals in the 16th minute, as Flores scored his own goal off a cross by defender Dakota Seddon. The Warriors and Geoducks would go scoreless for the remainder of the half after four goals in a sixteen minute span before eventually reaching the halftime break.
The Warriors pulled within a goal once again just five minutes into the second half, with redshirt senior Nate Sherwood scoring unassisted to cut the road disadvantage and find themselves a single goal from tying the contest after trailing by as many as two goals. Momentum had finally swung in favor of Corban, but the hole they had dug in the first sixteen minutes proved to be too much to overcome in their 3-2 loss.
Despite the Geoducks dominating the offensive end of the field in the first half with a 15-4 shot ratio, the Warriors remained focused on their gameplan and would eventually even find more shots on goal (11-8) than the Geoducks by the final whistle. The Navy and Gold also took four times more corner kicks than Evergreen State, while committing five more fouls on defense.
Irwin increased his team lead in goals tonight to four on the season, while Sherwood and Andrade registered their first goal and assist of the year, respectively. Both Sherwood and freshman midfielder Samuel Montes logged three shots on goal against the Geoducks.
Picking up his first win of the season was Evergreen State goalkeeper Brendan Gribek, who played a complete game with nine saves while allowing two goals. Warriors' redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Isaac Pureco surrendered three goals with five saves while taking the loss this afternoon.
Coach Bowers and the Warriors will finally make their way back to Salem for their official home opener, as they're set to host I-5 rival Bushnell University on September 15th at 4:30pm on the Outdoor Athletic Complex pitch.
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