EUGENE, Ore. – It was a big night for the Bushnell University men's soccer team on Saturday as they defeated Oregon Tech 2-0 in their final home game of the season. In the process they jumped into second-place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, clinched a berth in the CCC tournament, and tied their school wins record.
The Beacons (10-1-5, 6-1-3 CCC) match their win total from last season as they close out their home schedule at 4-0-4.
Head Coach
Joao Ehlers said, "I am very happy with our performance tonight. We were aggressive offensively and well balanced defensively."
Bushnell dominated possession throughout the night as
Aaron Lowry was forced to make just two saves in route to his fifth shutout of the season. The Beacons out-shot the Owls 17-6 in the game.
The game-winner for the Beacons came in the 24th minute and it was a memorable goal on multiple accounts as
Omar Barajas scored off a pass from
Brady Housley. For Barajas, a First-Team All-CCC selection last season who has battled back from injury this year, it was his first goal of the season. He becomes the 15th different Bushnell player to find the back of the net this season.
"The guys all put on immense effort from the jump," said Barajas, "and never let off the pressure which allowed us to get the clean sheet, three points, and most importantly a spot in the CCC playoffs. Hopefully we keep this momentum going and can see where it takes us."
For Housley, it was his school-record ninth assist of the season, breaking the mark that was set by Barajas as a freshman in 2023. His nine assists lead the CCC and are tied for ninth-most in the NAIA.
After taking a 1-0 lead into halftime, Bushnell came out quick in the second half and doubled their lead just five minutes in as
Teva Mataoa scored his third goal of the season on a pass from
Severin Larsen.
While they were out-shot 9-4 in the second half, the Owls (4-5-7, 2-5-3) did give themselves chances to get on the board in the second, picking up both of their shots-on-goal in the final 14 minutes. They also had a shot from Anthony Aguiar hit the post in the first half.
Saturday was the final home game for Bushnell's 11 seniors (
Jesus Aguilar,
Omar Barajas,
James Duggan,
Nicholas Ferreira,
Konstantinos Gavriel,
Javier Gutierrez,
Jericho Jalad,
Kamdyn Janshen,
Juan Olguin,
Jay Jay Van Der Velde, and
Aaron Villa), who were honored in a ceremony during halftime of the Beacon women's soccer game.
"I am proud of our seniors," said Ehlers, "and I am grateful for their contributions to our program."
UP NEXT: The Beacons currently have 21 points in the CCC standings. They sit four points behind Rocky Mountain and two ahead of Carroll College before those schools end their weekends on Sunday. Bushnell has a ton to play for in their final week as they hit the road for Montana to close the regular season against those two opponents. On Thursday, they will face Rocky Mountain at 7:30 pm (MT) and then on Saturday they are at Carroll at 12:00 pm (MT)
