EUGENE, Ore.  –The Northwest Christian University men's soccer team opened Cascade Collegiate Conference play this weekend, traveling to Montana for their first CCC sanctioned games against Carroll College and the University of Great Falls. NCU walked away with a pair of losses, falling to Carroll 4-0 and UGF 3-0.
 
Friday's clash with the Saints ended with Carroll owning a 21-1 advantage in shots as they held NCU without a shot-on-goal for the contest. Making his first career start, freshman keeper Levi Davidson (pictured) hung tough all afternoon, finishing with six saves.
 
Carroll scored three goals before the half but NCU settled down over the final 45 minutes where Davidson made five of his saves and the Beacons kept their opponent to just one more score. After the game, head coach Benny Flores said, "We ran into a tough and talented Carroll team today. We need to match the intensity and speed of play of teams in the CCC, but are learning and gaining experience each game."
 
On Saturday the Beacons made the trek to Great Falls to take on the Argos for just the third time and the first in the CCC as the Montana schools joined the CCC as associate members this year.
 
Great Falls out-shot the Beacons 11-3 in the first half, but NCU was able to keep zeroes up on the scoreboard. UGF didn't break through with their first score until the 59th minute. Davidson once again got the call between the pipes, making a pair of saves.
 
NCU (1-5-1, 0-2 CCC) was led by Sergio Maldonado, posting three shots-on-goal.
 
Flores said, "We played an excellent first half and now we just need to put together a full 90 minutes. We are getting our injured players back and I am excited about the future.
 
The Beacons return to the pitch on Friday, coming home to face Oregon Tech at 7:00 pm.