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Intercollegiate AthleticsFor Sports EnthusiastsFor Student Athletes |
Geoducks End Losing Streak With Win Over Northwest |
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September 2, 2001 COMING UP: at Pacific Lutheran, Sept. 7, 4 p.m.; vs. Humboldt State (Calif.) at Portland, Ore., Sept. 9, Noon CLAMS WIN, CLAMS WIN: It had been almost three years since The Evergreen State College men's soccer program tasted victory. Three days after seeing their head coach released from his contract, the men stuck together and dominated a short-handed Northwest College squad, handing the Eagles a 4-0 victory. The win ended a 38-game winless streak and a 33-game losing streak, both longest in school history. Said co-captain Jimmy Nagle (Bainbridge Island, Wash. / Univeristy of Portland), "Either we were going to fall apart or really come together. Today we came together as a team very well." ABOUT THE WIN: Sophomore Justin Connell (Sequim, Wash. / Sequim HS) scored twice within the first 23-minutes, giving Evergreen the advantage it needed. Connell, last season's leading scorer, took a crossing pass from his high school teammate Dave Zebley (Sequim, Wash. / Wenatchee Valley CC) at the 11-minute mark and found the net. He then took a nice feed from true freshman Dave Rack (Whitefish Bay, Wis. / Whitefish Bay HS) in the box and drove it past Eagles keeper Jason Bishop to make it 2-0. Evergreen added a third first half goal when Truman Read (Media, Penn. / Penncrest HS) dribbled into the box and found the top-right shelf, and transfer Brian Cook (Cape Girardeau, Mo. / Skagit Valley CC) ended the scoring with a blast in the second half. True freshman Tom Kneeshaw (Eatonville, Wash. / Eatonville HS) was outstanding in his goalkeeping debut for the Geoducks, stopping all four shots on goal to record the shutout. The former All-Nisqually League star used a diving punch to thwart a Takeshi Ushikubo point blank shot during the first half. MORE ON THE STREAK: Evergreen had not won a match since Oct. 14, 1998, when the Clams stopped Hawaii Pacific, 1-0, and had lost each match since a 1-1 tie with Northwest on September 3, 1999. THE MASTER'S ENDS WIN PARADE: Facing a team that played for the NCCAA title last year, the Geoducks knew that the road would be an uphill climb. The Master's jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and rolled to a 8-1 victory. Taking advantage of a disqualification of Geoduck forward Brian Cook for a pair of yellow cards, the Mustangs scored five goals in the first 20 minutes in the period, as Anthon Brueggeman recorded a hat trick. Evergreen did end a five-match scoreless streak for TMC, as forward Nick Valentine (Steilacoom, Wash. / Tacoma CC) pressured the Mustang defense into an own goal in the 69th minute. It was the first meeting between the two schools since 1989. CAN YOU SAY OFFENSE: With five goals this week, the Geoducks have scored more than half their total from the dismal 2000 season. Evergreen found the net only 11 times last season, the least number of goals in school history. Incidentally, the season record for goals is 46 set in 1989. A REAL KEEPER: Last year, Evergreen put five different position players in an unfamiliar setting - between the posts. The result was a Cascade Conference worst 75 goals allowed. However, with a true goalkeeper in Tom Kneeshaw, things should be different. Case in point - Saturday's match with The Master's. Despite giving up eight goals on 32 Mustang shots, the youngster showed flashes of brilliance, stopping TMC countless times from close range. WHAT IS A LUTE: Some say a spirit, some say it is short for Lutheran, but nonetheless, Evergreen will travel Friday to face an improving Pacific Lutheran (0-1-0) squad. The Lutes opened the 2001 season with a 0-0 tie in an exhibition with Trinity Western, and dropped a close 3-2 affair with Western Baptist. PLU is coming off a 5-14 season, and was picked to finish sixth in the nine-team Northwest Conference. Fourth-year head coach Joe Waters, a former professional player in England and with the Tacoma Stars of the MISL, has the core of his midfield group back. Rylan Cordova and Andy Yarborough each have started the past two seasons, with Patrick O'Neill having started the past three. PLU has a 14-3-5 all-time series advantage over Evergreen, winning the last eight encounters, the last coming in 1997. The Clams last win was a 5-3 decision in 1989. WHAT A PAIR - EVERGREEN VERSUS THE LUMBERJACKS?: From an outsiders view, this is the atypical Evergreen analogy - environmentalists battling the loggers. Next Sunday, it is a battle of a different sort, as the Geoducks travel to Portland, Ore. for a neutral site match with NCAA Division II opponent, Humboldt State (1-2-0). The 'Jacks opened the season with a victory over San Fransisco State, but has dropped consecutive matches with Sonoma State and CSU-Bakersfield. Head coach Alan Exley hopes to get some scoring punch out of junior Eduardo Serrano. Evergreen has never defeated HSU in three previous meetings, with the Lumberjacks holding a 2-0-1 advantage. The teams played to a scoreless tie in 1988. FOR MORE INFORMATION: For all press releases, statistics, and team information about every Geoduck athletic team, head to www.evergreen.edu/crc, the official website for Evergreen athletics. |
Men's Soccer InformationAffiliates
Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC)
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Related Links |
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