Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – With just over four minutes left to play,
Sid Kosaris notched his first two goals of the season to break Lewis & Clark's heart and send the Wildcats back to McMinnville with their first win of 2022 Monday night at Griswold Stadium.
The Pioneers reintroduced a varsity men's soccer program for the first time since the 1991 season. They will only play non-conference matches this fall and will have a full Northwest Conference schedule in 2023.
Linfield outshot Lewis & Clark 30-2 with 12 shots on goal in the 3-1 road victory. The Wildcats also had eight corner kicks. The Linfield backline had its best outing so far this season, allowing just one shot on goal by the Pioneers.
Seamus Miller made his presence known early, scoring the first goal of the match in the 14
th minute off an assist by
Sam Haynes. Ben Schwartz responded with a goal of his own for the Pioneers off a penalty kick less than two minutes before halftime.
Despite controlling the time of possession for the entire match, the 'Cats found themselves tied with the Pios at 1-all heading into the final five minutes of regulation. That's when Miller and Kosaris stepped in and took matters into their own hands.
Miller dribbled through the middle of the pitch and connected with Kosaris, who was 10 yards away from the goal and tapped it past a diving Lewis & Clark keeper to give the 'Cats the lead for good in the 86
th minute. It was Miller's first assist of the season.
A few moments later,
Patrick Moes, who missed a penalty kick in the 84
th minute, found a wide-open Kosaris in the box in the 89
th. Kosaris fired in his sixth shot of the match, which spun through the legs of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to put a dagger in the Pios' hopes of a miracle comeback.
Miller led all players with 10 shots, three landing on goal. Moes added four shots in 58 minutes played.
Angel Hernandez,
Evan Stafford,
Ryan Johnson and
Nicholas Reggiani all played the full 90 minutes.
Henry Boudreaux started in goal for the 'Cats, allowing one goal in the first half.
Peyton Frazier entered the match after the break and earned the win. Neither goalkeeper made a save as the lone shot on goal for Lewis & Clark resulted in a goal for Schwartz.
NEXT
With their first win of the season, the 'Cats improved to 1-4-0 rolling into Northwest Conference play. They open NWC play at home, hosting defending champion Pacific Lutheran on Homecoming Saturday before hosting Puget Sound on Sunday. Both matches start at 2:30 p.m. at the Linfield Soccer and Lacrosse Complex.
