OLYMPIA, Wash. – Senior Corey Johnson (Longview, Wash./Mark Morris) and freshman Caleb Phillips (Aberdeen, Wash./Aberdeen HS) each scored goals for the Evergreen Geoducks but the Oregon Tech Owls managed to put five balls in net as the Geoducks fell, 5-2, in a Cascade Conference men’s soccer match on Saturday afternoon in Klamath Falls, Ore.
Oregon Tech (4-6-0, 2-4-0 CCC) scored their first goal in the seventh minute as Nick Zamudio was able to put a head on a cross by Dustin Hirata and the ball found it’s way past Evergreen (2-6-1, 1-4-1 CCC) keeper Mitch Treend (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie HS). The Owls made it 2-0 in the 18th minute as Talon Wyatt was able to head in a corner from Victor Corona.
The Geoducks got on the board in the 21st minute as Jack Fortune (Monroe, Wash./Monroe HS) got a ball into Johnson, who scored his second goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Corona scored for OIT as the Owls made it 3-1 but Phillips got Evergreen back within one goal at halftime after putting in a ball with just 26 seconds left in the period to put it at 3-2 after 45 minutes.
In the second half, Hirata got in the scoring column in the 65th minute with a shot from 30 yards out that found the upper corner. Just four minutes later, Hirata scored again, taking a cross and burying it in the bottom right corner as the Owls earned the 5-2 win.
Oregon Tech held a 25-10 advantage in shots on the afternoon, as well as a 12-3 advantage in corner kicks. Treend finished with six saves for the Geoducks while OIT keeper Tanner Lee made three stops for the Owls.
The Geoducks return to Olympia on Friday when they play host to rival Northwest in the second half of a men’s-women’s doubleheader with the Eagles.
