KIRKLAND, Wash. – Battling high winds, heavy rains and stormy conditions, the Northwest Eagles held off the Evergreen Geoducks, 3-2, in a Cascade Conference men’s soccer game on Saturday afternoon at NU Soccer Field in Kirkland, Wash.
The Eagles (13-4-0, 11-2-0 CCC) opened up the scoring in just the fifth minute as Brendon Wheeler fed in a ball behind the Evergreen (7-7-3, 5-6-2 CCC) defense to the feet of Jacob Weaver, who chipped the ball over Geoduck keeper Mauricio Sanchez (East Wenatchee, Wash./Eastmont HS/Wenatchee Valley CC) for the 1-0 lead.
Evergreen evened it up shortly after halftime as Jack Fortune (Monroe, Wash/Monroe HS) dropped a ball back to Joseph Ademofe (Ifon, Nigeria/Shoreline CC), who sent in a beauty from 30 yards deep past NU keeper Joe Galbraith for the score.
Northwest took the lead again in the 63rd minute as Weaver scored his second goal of the afternoon from about 12 yards with assists going to Edgar Esquivel and Adam Loga. Esquivel made it 3-1 in the 78th minute, gathering a deflection following a shot by Mackenzie Samuelsen and scoring from six yards out.
The Geoducks closed the gap in the 86th minute as Kodey Eley (Federal Way, Wash./Federal Way HS) scored from 20 yards out but the NU defense stayed tough for the final five minutes to earn the 3-2 win and move one step closer to the CCC regular season title.
Evergreen held a 12-9 advantage on shots with just four shots on goal for each team. The game was a physical one, with 33 total fouls called and seven yellow cards shown.
The Geoducks, who currently sit in fourth place in the CCC standings, wrap up the regular season next Saturday against Northwest Christian. Kick with the Beacons is set for 3 p.m. in Springfield, Ore.