KIRKLAND, Wash. – The latest regulation game-winning goal in Southern Oregon men's soccer history marked the arrival of the Cascade Conference season at Northwest (Wash.) on Friday afternoon.
Thirteen seconds remained when Raider junior
Jonathan Gaspar delivered the decisive blow in a dramatic 2-1 defeat the Eagles, breaking a deadlock that had sustained for the previous 74 minutes at NU Field.
It unfolded when, with the clock winding down, SOU's
JP Warnell turned and took two defenders off the dribble and into the box. NU keeper Bailey Hopkins made a sliding stop – his 11th in the contest – of Warnell's left-footed shot but couldn't get to his feet in time to deny Gaspar, who gathered the deflection and fired through the defense from up close.
Gaspar, an All-CCC midfielder, tallied for the second time this season. The Raiders had come up empty on their 15 previous attempts of the half and finished with advantages of 25-8 in total shots and 13-4 on goal.
SOU improved to 4-0-1 overall, while the Eagles fell to 2-2-1. The Raiders have still yet to allow multiple goals in a game this season.
They fell behind in the seventh minute on a Roland Ngoy goal, but
Michael Mutchukian, a 6-foot-5 defender, equalized in the 16th with a well-struck header off of
Elias Ahmed's free kick. Mutchukian's goal was his second, and Ahmed's assist gave him his first point as a Raider.
The Raiders are unbeaten through five games for the fourth time in team history.
They'll face another unbeaten at 3 p.m. Saturday in Evergreen (Wash.), which went to 2-0-3 with a draw against Oregon Tech on Friday.
