MCMINNVILLE, ORE. – Despite eight shots on goal, the Linfield Wildcats fell 1-0 to the Warner Pacific Knights on Wednesday night at the Linfield Soccer & Lacrosse Complex.
Though this match was an exhibition for the Wildcats, it counts towards the overall record for the Knights, who start their 2021 spring season 1-0.
Both teams had plenty of opportunities to score in the first half, totaling 14 shots over the first 45 minutes.
Warner Pacific scored the lone goal of the match in the 43
rd minute, a shot from Armando Nieblas from just outside the 18-yard box went into the top left pocket of the net, off the reach of
Cam Perron. Babucarr Touray had the assist on the goal.
Linfield split its lineup over the two halfs, with
Logan Clizer being the lone player that appeared in both halves. He was the team leader with three shots.
In the first half,
Connor Heintz,
Seamus Miller and
Shoma Okita had two shots each for Linfield.
Brady Anderson and
Cesar Cruz-Espindola had two shots each in the second half.
Warner Pacific's Luis Hernandez made eight saves and gets his first win of 2021. For the Wildcats, Perron played the first half, making a save and
Peyton Frazier played the second half, stopping five shots on goal.
Brandon Medrano led the Knights with four shots.
Three of the Wildcats scoring opportunities came via the corner kick, while the Knights had two corner kicks.
UP NEXT
Linfield hosts Bushnell (formerly known as Northwest Christian) for another exhibition match on Saturday at 7 p.m. The first regular season contest is scheduled for Sunday, February 28 against George Fox.
