PORTLAND, Ore. – A six-game road trip for the Corban University Women's Soccer team came to an end this afternoon with the program's sixth win of the season, as the Warriors scored twice over the final seven minutes of play to break a one-all tie and depart from Portland with a 3-1 victory against Warner Pacific University. Today's decision marks the tenth-straight win for the Navy and Gold over WPU, dating back to the 2017 season where Corban has only allowed four goals over the same span.
"The momentum has been building, and it was a great way to end our weekend trip with the results we got on the field," Corban head coach Travez Whyte detailed. "It's been fun seeing how our defense protects our goal, and now it's clicking for our attackers. Huge shoutout to our goal scorers and assisters today who problem solved together to create three beautiful goals. Fatima led by example for both games this weekend and I'm happy her discipline and hard work is showing now. As always, thanks to our traveling Warriors, we appreciate your support. Back to the field before grinding at home this next weekend!"
Following the Knights' (4-8-2, 2-6-1) senior day festivities prior to kickoff, senior forward Fatima Jimenez took the opportunity to score her second goal of the season just under nine minutes into the match to provide the Warriors (6-5-4, 3-3-3) with an early lead. Jimenez received the cross from junior forward Carley Ganchenko deep into the Knights' penalty box, which she collected and pushed past her defender to score past the diving reach of WPU goalkeeper Gwen Williford.
The remainder of the first half was littered with offensive chances for Corban, yet the Warriors were unable to find the back of the net and kept their 1-0 lead intact by the halftime horn. Two minutes and fifty-two seconds into the second half, Warner Pac knotted the contest at a goal apiece thanks to a miracle strike from well outside the Corban goalbox, with defender Reggie Griffith launching a shot up and over the arms of sophomore goalkeeper Ava Hayes.
Back-and-forth the Warriors and Knights battled over the final half, before freshman forward Maya Alston netted the game-winner with under seven minutes to play. After a failed offensive attack by Corban, senior defender Emilly Olvera switched sides of field and found Alston darting up the middle of the Warner Pac backfield, where she took a single touch and simply tapped the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, just inside the post.
Jimenez would go on to secure a brace performance less than 30 seconds after Alston's game-winner, with the true freshman finding Jimenez on a breakaway opportunity with the Knights' defense trailing. Jimenez took a pair of dribbles at full speed and launched a rocket of a shot deep into the netting to pad the Warriors' lead and earn their third win in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play.
The Navy and Gold outshot the Knights 14-5 with a 10-5 advantage in shots on goal this afternoon, as Jimenez led all players with six shots, two resulting in goals and two in saves by Williford who ended her day with seven deflections in the losing decision. Griffith was the WPU shot leader alongside forward Shalece Easley, yet Hayes secured three saves while her defensive line thwarted a majority of Warner Pac's possessions.
With their last home game taking place back on September 28th, the Warriors finally return to the Outdoor Athletic Complex for the final regular season games of the year, beginning with Eastern Oregon University (6-3-2, 5-2-0) on Friday, October 25th at 12pm.
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