Highs and lows for Geoduck soccer
Two wins from two
The Geoducks' weekend started with a match against the College of Idaho Coyotes on Friday and then on Saturday they faced Oregon Tech Owls. Evergreen, who came off a loss from earlier, was in desperate need of a rebound.
Things did not get off to the best start for Evergreen against the Coyotes. The Geoducks were missing two of their players due to suspension.
Evergreen was out-muscled in the first half of play and found themselves a goal down at half time.
At the restart, Evergreen showed their scoring intent immediately. #13 Dyson Fowler saw his header fly just over the bar, and #8 Josh Stressar came within inches of scoring from a tight angle.
However, these near misses did not discourage the Geoducks who continued to applied pressure and force the Coyotes on the back foot.
The Geoducks found the breakthrough 16 minutes from time, when #17 Corey Johnson was able to grab his third goal of the season.
Neither team was able to win in regular time and the tie forced extra time.
Evergreen thought they had won it from a corner, but the ref believed that an Evergreen player “pushed” a Coyote player and the goal was waved off much to the dismay of Evergreen fans and players.
The first half of extra time ended goalless and Evergreen had ten more minutes to try to grab the winner. Just like the first half of extra time, Evergreen went for it and after 9 minutes 35 seconds Evergreen found the winner.
#13 Dyson Fowler found himself in the right place at the right time to tuck in the winner after receiving the ball from #18 Brandon Wood.
By coming back from a goal down to grab the winner, Evergreen gained a massive boost in moral going into the weekend fixture against the Oregon Tech Owls. The match saw the return of #9 Brice Boum and #12 Kevin Falvin, who had served their one match ban and returned in impressive fashion.
The second match in two days was against the Oregon Tech Owls who had already beaten the Geoducks 5-2. Evergreen had a chance to have a two game winning streak.
Right from the get go, Evergreen wanted to get revenge over the Owls from their past encounter.
A few chances fell Evergreen’s way, but they could not find the touch that really matter. Nevertheless, Evergreen found a breakthrough when #12 Kevin Falvin scored in dramatic fashion.
From 35 yards out Flavin volleyed the ball with fantastic technique, which flew past the diving hand of the Owls goalkeeper. Evergreen almost grabbed a second when Strasser took advantage of some defensive incompetence.
The first half ended with the Geoducks booming with confidence. They were dominating all parts of the game so far, attacking effortlessly and defending with ease, leaving the Owls confused and frustrated when they tried to attack.
The second half began with the same story as how the first half ended, Evergreen dominating.
Evergreen created scoring chances, inching closer to increasing their lead. The Geoducks found the back of the net in the 73rd minute, when #6 George Bundy played in a cross that was not properly defended and bounced into goal to give Evergreen a 2-nil lead.
The third Geoduck goal came in the 80th minute when a shot from Bundy rocked the cross bar and the ball found its way into the path of the diving #18 Brandon Wood who simply could not miss. 3- nil and Evergreen floating on cloud nine.
Evergreen came crashing down to earth in the final ten minutes when they conceded two goals, which saw their convincing performance go down the drain and questioned their ability to finish victories without almost throwing them away.
Needless to say, two wins in two matches will heighten their confidence for the next game. Evergreen has plenty to be proud of, coming from a goal down and playing some sensational soccer that dictated the match against the Owls. The Geoducks won by just a goal, but is should have been more.
#9 Boum who did not end up on the score sheet was instrumental in the victory over the Owls. He held the ball well and distributed to fellow teammates in attacking position that created problems for the Owls defense.
Women Soccer collapse at the death
The women were away from home and took on the College of Idaho on Saturday. Evergreen took the lead late on from an effort by # 16 Katie Hebein in the first half and looked dissented to gather all three points, but then disaster struck. Evergreen conceded the equalizer in the 86th minute and then concede another in extra time to see them lose out on getting a point from the match.
Before Evergreen returned home, the women traveled La Grande, Oregon to take on the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers. The Geoducks did not start off well, they conceded three goals before half time. 10 minutes after the restart, Evergreen’s deficit increased when the Mountaineers added a fourth goal. However, for the Geoducks they were able to fight back and grab two goals from #16 Katie Hebein and #17 Anastasia Daniels. It was too little too late for the Geoducks to complete the comeback.
Evergreen’s next four matches are all at home.