Box Score

Video: Senior Night ceremony              Video: Seniors Interviewed Post-Game

EUGENE, Ore.  – The Northwest Christian University men's soccer team grabbed their first Cascade Collegiate Conference win of the season and their first ever victory over The College of Idaho on Saturday night, knocking off the Yotes 1-0.

Playing the first sixty minutes in a scoreless tie, NCU broke through at the 59:05 mark on a remarkable goal. Michael Luevanos sent a 35-yard service pass from the right side of the pitch towards the left end of the box. Junior Chris Longi was waiting for the ball and took a one-time shot out of the air, firing home what would become the game winner for the Beacons.

“That's probably one of the better goals I've ever seen as a coach,” said NCU head coach Brett Bentley. “For Longi to take such a long service out of the air was brilliant. We've been working with our midfielders to get the defenders on their backs to open up opportunities for services passes like those and Mike did an amazing job on that play.”

With the win, Northwest Christian (3-13-1, 1-11-1 CCC) broke a nine-game losing streak and twelve-game winless streak, dating back to September fourth. It was their first conference win of the season and came on senior night, during the final home game for Alex Crossingham, Juan Guitron, and Lucas Cash.

Bentley said, “I commend the guys for the way they have worked their tails off every day. They committed themselves all season to treat every day as a new day and they got this result because they didn't hang their heads after a tough loss to Oregon Tech yesterday. Letting them come back on us really taught us a lesson yesterday and we were able to put our opponent away tonight.”

The teams finished the night tied in shots, 13-13 with Northwest Christian holding a 10-6 lead in shots-on-goal. Sophomore Erik Carrazco (pictured) picked up his first career shutout making five saves and was helped by a strong defensive effort along the back line. In the 36th minute of the game, The College of Idaho had a golden scoring opportunity when Carrazco was pulled out on a defensive play. With a wide open net, the Yotes attempted an easy chip-in which was saved by Stephen Rock with a header at the goal line to avoid the score.

The College of Idaho moves to 6-9-2, 5-6-2 in conference with the defeat. The Yotes had won the first nine meetings between the two schools, dating back to 2007.

Northwest Christian will return to action next Saturday, closing out the season in Olympia, Washington against The Evergreen State College. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 pm for that game.