SALEM, Ore. – On Friday night, the Warrior Men's Soccer program of Corban University proved why they deserve to be considered amongst the top competitors in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC). Corban faced off in a matchup against an RV Eastern Oregon University squad who went both undefeated in the regular season and won the CCC championship the previous year. The Warriors took the Mountaineers down to the wire, landing the first and last goals of a 2-2 draw. With an impressive nine saves from redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Rylan Davidson, Corban's defense showed it was firing on all cylinders and prepared for the blistering attack of the Mountaineer offense. The Navy and Gold defensive unit allowed two of EOU's 21 shots to find its way into the goal, an impressive ratio as this draw sets the Warriors at 3-1-1 and prevents the Mountaineers from their second win of the season at 1-1-3 overall and the first draw in CCC action for either squad.
Jordan Keegan, the head coach for the Corban men, defined their performance as a "success". He articulated that he was, "incredibly proud of the defense tonight. We knew we had to limit how direct they would play and outside of a few breakdowns, did a very good job managing a team receiving votes who beat a ranked team last weekend." A focus of improvement moving forward also directly quoted from Keegan is "playing under pressure, we had a hard time playing through their press tonight once we got our first goal."
Wasting no time at all, the Corban offense went to work in the 11th minute, when freshman defender Oswaldo Cerda Pacheco set up junior forward Jesus Mendoza to finish the first goal of the night. From there, the Corban defense dug their cleats in as Eastern Oregon pushed to even the score. The Warriors turned away all four of the Mountaineers' shots on goal rolling into the break with an ecstatic and commanding a 1-0 lead.
Following halftime, Eastern Oregon was clear they had re-grouped and re-strategized. The Mounties came out firing, but Corban's defense remained tried and true. That was, until the 70th minute, when Eastern senior forward Henry Lopez broke through to tie the game at one goal apiece. No more than four minutes later, junior midfielder Christian Samayoa played his attacking role and sunk another shot into the back of Corban's net.
Wasting no time, the Warriors answered almost immediately in the 77th minute. Sophomore forward and "jack-of-all-trades" Jaycob Miller, who had subbed in just ten minutes prior, stepped into the spotlight and converted a crucial penalty kick, knotting the game at 2-2.
Eastern Oregon continued to apply the pressure late, including a shot off the post in the 80th minute. Even then, Davidson and the Warriors back line held their ground the rest of the way. Corban made the most of its chances with un-rivaled efficiency, scoring on both of their shots on goal. Eastern Oregon finished with an impressive 21 shots, 11 of them coming on goal. Through the constant attack of EOU, the Corban men's defense proved itself a force to be reckoned with.
In a complete team performance, Corban was highlighted by several key players that contributed. Davidson, the transfer from NCAA DII Western Oregon University, stood in goal for a complete 90 minutes and was credited with nine saves. Mendoza provided the opening goal of the night, and Miller served up the goal that pushed the score to 2-all. Cerda Pacheco played all 90 minutes and assisted on the opening goal, with senior defender Aaron James, freshman midfielder Abraham Lopez, junior midfielder Josiah Solorzano, and fifth-year defender Landon Moore all going the distance as well.
On Eastern Oregon's side of the field, senior forward Henry Lopez was active on the goal all night. He contributed seven shots on goal, but only had one convert. Junior midfielder Christian Samayoa made his presence known all night and converted EOU's second goal. Senior centerback Rene Prieto also showed flashes of offense, but ultimately failed in landing any of his four shots.
As the focus of the season continues to shift, the Warrior men feel confident and comfortable with their current standing. EOU showed why they're the defending conference champs, but nothing the talented Corban squad couldn't handle. Corban is now poised to take on a winless College of Idaho squad (0-3-4, 0-0-3) on Saturday, September 26th, with the game also scheduled to take place at 7pm.
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