Warriors Fall to Concordia, 2-0

Heading into a stretch of four straight home games, Corban finds itself at 3-3-1 overall, 2-1-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.

Junior James DelCastillo extended his scoreless streak to 162 minutes thanks to shutting out the Cavaliers of Concordia today in the second half, but Corban fell to its nationally-ranked opponent on Warrior Field. Photo courtesy: Corban Sports Information

SALEM, Ore. - In a battle of two unbeaten teams in Cascade Collegiate Conference play, Corban's men's soccer team fell to nationally-ranked Concordia, 2-0, on Wednesday thanks to a pair of first half goals by the Cavaliers at Warrior Field.

After playing 110 minutes of scoreless soccer in last year's NAIA Region I semifinals, it did not take Concordia long to end its scoreless drought against Corban.

In the eighth minute, Concordia's Tyler Camp teamed with Alex Ponce for the game's opening goal.

Ponce began the play by rifling a shot off the chest of Corban's sophomore goalkeeper Aaron Franklin only to have Camp waiting for the rebound.

Without hesitation, Camp rocketed a shot past a diving Franklin and into the back of the net for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.

Without letting up on its offensive pressure, Concordia tacked on another goal in the 21st minute when the scoring duo of Camp and Ponce teamed up again.

This time, Ponce dribbled down the left sideline before sending a through ball onto Camp, who was running up the middle of the field.

Upon receiving the pass, Camp one-timed a shot from five yards out that sailed past Franklin into the top right corner of the net for his second goal of the game.

On two other occasions in the first half, Concordia could have added to its two-goal advantage only to have shots that were heading towards nothing but white net denied by awaiting Corban defenders that were standing in the right spot at the right time.

Both Warrior team saves came on shots that resulted from Concordia corner kicks, as freshman David Anderson and junior Daniel Steffen became the saving grace for the Warriors in the opening 45 minutes.

Junior net-minder and reigning Cascade Collegiate Conference Defensive Player of the Week James DelCastillo came on in relief of Franklin to begin the second half and completely shut down the Cavaliers' high octane offensive attack.

The 5-foot-11 goalkeeper recorded a game-high nine saves, including numerous diving stops that kept the Warriors within striking distance.

Corban's best offensive chance came late in the second half when senior Caleb Louvier took a through ball from fellow senior Andrew Brown and went one-on-one with Concordia's keeper.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Louvier and the Cavs' net-minder met the ball at the same time that resulted in a dazed and confused Concordia's goalie thanks to a diving stop combined with a Louvier boot to the gut.

Franklin recorded six saves before leaving the game at the beginning of the second half, while Concordia's Garrett Staples needed to make a mere four saves in order to preserve the shutout.

Heading into a stretch of four straight home games, Corban finds itself at 3-3-1 overall, 2-1-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.

Meanwhile, Concordia remains unbeaten in conference play with a record of 4-0-0 to go along with an overall mark of 6-2-0.

The Warriors are next in action on Saturday, September 22nd, when they continue Cascade Collegiate Conference play against the Knights of Warner Pacific beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Warrior Field in Salem.

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