OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Evergreen Geoducks came to play on Saturday afternoon, battling with the 14th-ranked Concordia (Ore.) Cavaliers before falling 3-2 in a Cascade Conference men’s soccer match on Saturday afternoon in Olympia, Wash.
The Cavaliers (6-0, 2-0 CCC) struck first as Facundo Dipascuale took a pass from Tanner French and fired the ball from about 10 yards out for the 1-0 lead in just the 12th minute. Evergreen (1-4, 0-2 CCC) equalized it in the 19th minute as Corey Johnson (Longview, Wash./Mark Morris HS) fed in a great ball to Kevin Flavin (Oak Harbor, Wash./Shoreline CC), who shot low past CU keeper Humberto Soriano.
Concordia answered back just 70 seconds later as Dipascuale made it two goals on the afternoon after taking a quick restart following an Evergreen foul that caught Geoduck keeper Christian Pettit (Sprint Branch, Texas/UT-San Antonio) a bit out of position as the Cavs retook the 2-1 lead, which would hold until halftime.
In the second period, CU padded the lead early as a corner kick by Evan Denmark found the diving forehead of Michael Chamberlain, who guided the ball into the net for a 3-1 lead. Evergreen finally was able to get some pressure back on the CU defense and it paid off in the 77th minute as Sam Joslyn (Sammamish, Wash./Mount Si) threaded the needle, firing a shot through the crowd and past Concordia’s Scott Gross, who took over in net for the second half.
Unfortunately for the Geoducks, the goal by Joslyn would be their last chance at securing the upset as Concordia escaped Olympia with the 3-2 win. The game was physical on both sides but it was Evergreen who was whistled for 19 infractions, compared with just six for the Cavaliers. The game also picked up a bit of color in the final 10 minutes as three yellow cards were handed out, with Evergreen earning two of three in the closing minutes.
Despite giving up the three goals, Pettit was solid in net, making seven saves as Concordia held a 21-11 advantage on shots. Soriano had three saves for the Cavs in the first half while Gross made one stop in the second half.
Evergreen makes their first trip to Oregon next week when they travel to Northwest Christian on Wednesday. Concordia will next be in action on Friday when they host Oregon Tech in a match at Delta Park in Portland, Ore.
