OLYMPIA, Wash. – Senior Kevin Flavin (Oak Harbor, Wash./Shoreline CC) used some fancy footwork to score a pair of unassisted goals as the Evergreen Geoducks earned a 2-0 win over the Warner Pacific Knights in a Cascade Conference men’s soccer match on Wednesday afternoon at Evergreen Pitch in Olympia, Wash.
The Geoducks (10-5-0, 10-2-0 CCC) got on the board for the first time in the 27th minute after Flavin dribbled around Warner Pacific (6-8-2, 5-5-2 CCC) keeper Drew Bonifacio and finished on an empty net for his third goal of the season.
Warner Pacific nearly tied it up in the 37th minute when Almir Celebic lined up for a penalty kick by Geoduck keeper Mauricio Sanchez (Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee Valley CC) guessed right, diving left to make the save as Evergreen held the 1-0 lead at half.
Flavin did it again in the 80th minute, dribbling from midfield and around several WPC defenders before crossing up Bonifacio for a second time and putting the ball into the empty net for his second of the game and his fourth goal of the season.
Despite allowing the two goals, Bonifacio was strong in net, making seven saves for the Knights. Sanchez also had a strong match, making five saves to collect his fourth shutout of the season.
With the win, the Geoducks clinch a home playoff date to open the 2012 Cascade Conference tournament on Nov. 6. Evergreen also set a new school record for conference wins in a season with their 10th CCC victory of the year.
The Geoducks hit the road for the final time in the regular season when they head down to Klamath Falls, Ore. on Saturday to take on Oregon Tech. The match with the Owls was moved up earlier today to 1 p.m. as inclement weather is expected to hit the Klamath Falls region this weekend.
Congratulations Geoducks! Although the game wasn’t the best game you’ve played this year, winning ugly is better than losing pretty! Now let’s focus on the next game!