PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's soccer dominated for the first 44+ minutes, but George Fox University scored a goal in the final minute of each half to earn a 2-1 win on Wednesday night.
THE BASICS
George Fox 2, Lewis & Clark 1
(Lewis & Clark 1-10, Northwest Conference 1-7)
(George Fox 2-6-2, NWC 2-4-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore
Brody Kennedy scored his first collegiate goal to give Lewis & Clark a well-deserved 1-0 lead in the 43
rd minute. Bruins graduate student Zach LeVin tied the game with just six seconds to go before halftime and sophomore Carson Tapia sealed the comeback win with a goal with 15 seconds left in regulation.
Kennedy headed home senior
Dylan Weinstein's corner kick in the 43
rd minute to help Lewis & Clark score their first goal in five contests.
Senior goalie
Micaiah Garan made four saves in the contest including three in the second half.
Lewis & Clark played one of their best first halves in program history. The River Otters pinned the Bruins into their own defensive half for most of the first 45 minutes and Lewis & Clark was moving the ball into open pockets of space. The hosts constantly were buzzing around the Bruins' goalbox and created multiple chances to take the lead. Men's soccer racked up a 9-1 shot advantage before LeVin's goal and led George Fox 7-0 in corner kicks in the first stanza.
Garan came through with a huge save to keep the game scoreless early in the first half. The Bruins slipped a pass to LeVin inside the box and the graduate student sent a hard shot towards the far post that Garan was able to parry away.
Lewis & Clark immediately responded with three shots and two corner kicks in the next two minutes. First year
Avi Rajbhandari had the best chance to score but his shot at a wide-open goal was blocked by a jumping defender.
The River Otters finally took the lead at 42:20 on their seventh and final corner of the first half. Weinstein sent a line drive corner kick to the near post and Kennedy rose up and headed it past Chase Nelson for a 1-0 lead.
George Fox countered in the final minute of the half. Merric Marino sent a through ball towards the top of the box and LeVin beat a Lewis & Clark defender and Garan to the ball and was able to round both and put the ball into an empty net.
The goal totally turned the momentum of the game. George Fox came out and took control in the second half as they racked up a 10-4 edge in total shots and held Lewis & Clark without a corner kick in the final 45 minutes.
Despite being heavily outshot in the second half, Lewis & Clark held the Bruins off the board until the final 15 seconds. In the final minute of play, Liam Urbina dribbled through the defense and into the box and cut the ball back for Tapia who's right-footed shot fit just inside the post for a 2-1 lead.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Lewis & Clark finished the game with a 13-12 edge on shots and a 7-1 lead on corner kicks. The Bruins ended the contest with a 6-4 lead in shots on goal.
- Kennedy's goal was his first collegiate tally and marked the second and third points of his career.
- Weinstein became the first player in program history to reach 70 career games played on Wednesday.
- Lewis & Clark outshot their opponents for the first time in program history. The River Otters 13 shots in a game and seven corners in a game are both their second-most since the program returned to varsity status in 2022.
- Senior Emmett Olson, junior Sam Gunderson, sophomore Ren Fukuoka, Kennedy and Weinstein all posted two shots in the contest.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will open the second-half of conference play on Saturday, when they travel to take on Willamette University at Noon.
