SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University Men's Soccer team secured an incredibly meaningful draw today against the only nationally ranked opponent in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), as the Warriors battled to a 0-0 draw with No. 24-ranked Southern Oregon University to represent one of the four remaining teams in conference play two weeks into the CCC schedule.
"We knew today would be a 'grind-it-out' kind of match," began Corban head coach Josh Rios Noonkester. "Our group responded well to the adversity we faced with injuries carrying over from yesterday's match. Numerous guys were called on to play crucial minutes for us and they gave us everything. We're proud of the effort everyone put in this past week that led to two promising results at home. We'll recover now and look to build off the momentum as we hit the road for a difficult stretch of matches. Thank you to all our supporters who made it out today!"
An extremely physical result yielding 44 total fouls (22 by each program) along with eleven total yellow cards somehow saw no goals slapped on the scoreboard over 90 minutes of action, with the two teams going toe-to-toe over the opening half before Corban swapped to a more defensive approach in the second half as the Willamette Valley heat beat down and forced a handful of student-athletes to exist with injuries from today's contest. Southern Oregon (6-2-1, 3-0-1) held a 6-3 advantage in shots after the first 45 minutes played, yet the Corban defense only allowed two shots on goal.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Isaac Pureco wrapped up every scoring attempt by SOU that came his way today for the Warriors (3-4-1, 2-0-1), finishing with five saves in the first nationally ranked shutout of his career. Raiders' goalkeeper Casey Ruvolo didn't record a single save as the Southern Oregon defensive front kept him out of harm's way by either batting down or forcing errant shots by Corban, who managed only five shots in total this afternoon.
In the third start of the season, Corban junior midfielder David Montano managed a team-high two shots, while SOU midfielder Sky Charley-Bolyard had four total shot attempts, two of which Pureco pushed aside.
The only 4-0 program in the CCC, Carroll College (5-1-2, 4-0-0), will be Corban's next opponent all the way in Helena, Montana, with the Saints and Warriors beginning their match at 4pm MT on Friday, October 4th.
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