SALEM, Ore. – All it took was a single goal for the Corban University Men's Soccer team to be eliminated from postseason contention earlier this afternoon, as the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears just barely squeaked a goal over the endline that was waved in by the sideline official that stood to be the difference in a 1-0 decision at the Outdoor Athletic Complex (OAC).
"We came up short today in a match that was there for the taking," Warriors' head coach Josh Rios Noonkester stated. "We didn't make the most of the few opportunities we had and couldn't keep our shots on frame. The guys battled defensively, and Isaac came up with some massive saves to keep it close. Now, we look towards our last match as we honor our seniors. Thank you to all supporters who made it today, and we hope to see you on Sunday."
After a scoreless opening period that featured multiple opportunities for the Warriors (4-10-3, 3-6-3) to punch one into the netting, the Battlin' Bears (8-5-2, 7-3-2) were able to capture the solo-goal affair with a 79th minute goal by defender Kai Gatrell on a corner kick try from defender Rory O'Donnell. Gatrell was able to connect a slow header attempt off O'Donnell's corner cross that slowly rolled to the back corner of the goal, which the assistant referee deemed to have fully crossed the line prior to Corban redshirt junior goalkeeper Isaac Pureco deflecting the ball back out over the end line.
Rocky Mountain was able to play keep away from the Navy and Gold over the final ten minutes of action to wrap up today's contest after outshooting the Warriors 20-9 and 9-1 in shots on goal. Pureco batted away a game-high eight saves in the near shutout of RMC, while Bears' goalkeeper Stefan Schenk completed his own road shutout with just a single save. Offensively, Rocky Mountain forward Paul. Randello took a game-high four shots, while Corban redshirt junior midfielder Bryan Lopez had a pair of shots to lead the home team.
Corban men's soccer will complete their regular season on Sunday afternoon against Walla Walla University (1-11-0, 1-11-0) at 2:30pm, with their seven senior honorees being recognized roughly twenty minutes before the scheduled kickoff time.
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