Despite strong efforts, the men’s soccer team suffered a pair of devastating upsets on Oct. 7 and 9. Coming off of two wins the week before, the team’s hopes were high to keep the streak alive and keep their momentum, as the season nears an end.
Friday’s match ended 1-0 for the Southern Oregon Raiders with an unfortunate goal coming in the 81st minute. A scuffle for the ball in the box led to Adrian Villegas finding a tap-in goal that proved decisive.
Throughout the game, the Saints applied pressure and played strong defense. The team chemistry is noticeably improving making them a more organized and formidable unit. Performance was strong from both sides with the Saints putting up 10 shots against the Raider’s 12. The goal was well-protected by Mathias Gravesen, a freshman biology major from Copenhagen, Denmark, who finished the game with seven saves.
Sunday started off looking up for the men but ended 2-1 for the Oregon Tech Owls. The game got off to a good start in the 19th minute with a goal from Blake Waldmann, a sophomore studying business management and marketing from Boise. Waldmann launched a wonderful shot coming well out of the box that soared over the defender’s head to reach the top left corner. This was Waldmann’s first goal of the season.
Oregon fired back in the 25th minute with a goal of their own to equalize. A huge throw-in towards the box found Rosendo Juarez-Flores who was able to shoot it on the backside of Ryan Croft, a junior business marketing from Fleming Island, Florida, for a goal. This left the game at 1-1 at the half.
Going into the second half, the Saints put on some heavy pressure. However, in the 60th minute, an unlucky penalty in the box led to the Owls burying a penalty kick in the right corner.
Carroll applied a strong offense for the rest of the half, but the game ended 2-1, a letdown for the determined men.
