EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University men's soccer team scored the first goal of the game, but Warner Pacific responded with three goals of their own to claim a 3-1 win in Cascade Collegiate Conference action at Mike Kelly Field. Junior Midfielder Mario Guizar was responsible for all three WPC goals in the game.
 
The Beacons held the early momentum and their intensity paid off in the 11th minute. A breakaway by Colin McManamon left him headed for the goal when he was tackled by the last defender just outside of the box. The ensuing free kick from Angel Sandoval (pictured) landed in the corner of the net to give NCU the 1-0 lead.
 
NCU continued to hold serve over the next 20 minutes, establishing a 4-2 lead in shots while holding the Knights without a shot-on-goal. The turning point, however, came in the 31st minute when, after a corner kick, Geovanny Vazquez managed to take three straight shots-on-goal, all stopped by NCU keeper Bren Bletscher. A fourth shot attempt was blocked and no damage was done, but a define shift in momentum occurred.
 
 The Knights ended up scoring twice within four minutes as the first half drew to a close. In the 41st minute, a through ball from Vazquez left Guizar one-on-one with the keeper and he fired home a straight-on ten-foot shot for the equalizer. Then, with just 45 seconds remaining in the half, Guizar scored the game winner with a blast from 18-yards out that deflected off an NCU defender and over the defenseless Bletscher.
 
Guizar went on to complete his hat-trick in the 65th minute, collecting a loose ball and drilling a 20-yarder into the upper corner of the net.
 
In all, Warner Pacific finished with an 11-10 edge in shot attempts including an 8-3 margin in shots-on-goal. Bletscher finished the night with five saves for the Beacons while Joe White collected two saves in the victory for the Knights.
 
Beacon Head Coach Brett Bentley said, "We played well tonight but made some mistakes in our defensive third that Warner Pacific was able to capitalize on. All and all it was a frustrating night."
 
NCU will be back in action on Saturday night, traveling to face Concordia University at 7 p.m. Warner Pacific will be in Salem on Saturday to face Corban University at 4 p.m.