The Corban Warrior’s men’s soccer team has made it to the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament for the first time since 2008. It is also the first season since 2004 that the team has won over 9 games.
“We have a great group of guys,” says junior captain Tillerman Kroon. “We enjoy being around each other and our chemistry has translated onto the field.”
The Warriors earned their spot in the CCC play-offs with a win against the Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls on Senior Recognition Day on Oct. 29. The final score was 4-2, with goals by Tyler Hagen (2), KJ Newbery, and Devin Chaney. Steve Mason also had a game high of six saves.
This win propelled the Warriors to a 10-6-1 record overall and 8-4-1 in conference. Now, the Warriors have one last regular season game on Nov. 5 against Northwest University in Kirkland, WA.
Once that game is over, the playoff-bound Warriors will be fighting to stay in the tournament against teams from Northwest and Concordia, among others. Corban is third place in the conference with 25 points.
“Our preseason goal was to finish top three in conference and it’s a great feeling to have accomplished that, but we’re hungry for more,” says Kroon.
On the other side of things, the women’s soccer team finished in fifth place in the CCC with 15 points, placing them out of the tournament for the first time in 15 years. The Warriors played a must-win game against the College of Idaho, but lost 2-1.
A goal by Audrey Sullivan off of an assist by Amanda Mendenhall put the Warriors at a one goal deficit. However, the second goal was not to be. Sullivan ended the season with a team and conference leading 14 goals.
“It’s definitely disappointing to not make it to playoffs,” said junior Emily Tsugawa. “But we learned a lot from this year and we are all going to keep working hard in the offseason to get better and go a lot further next year.”