SALEM, Ore. --- Linfield men's soccer took an early lead but could not hold off Willamette's second-half surge, falling 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Sparks Field.
Linfield opened the scoring in the 25th minute thanks to
Oliver Blanchard, who was awarded a free kick from 21-yards out. The freshman midfielder curled a strike past the wall and inside the post for his first goal of the season, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Goalkeeper
Jacob Toves ensured the advantage held through halftime, making two key saves in the opening half, including a diving stop in the 11th minute and a close-range denial in the 17th minute. Linfield's back line, anchored by
Aedan Carroll,
Anderson Kelly, and
Derek Rowe, limited Willamette to just three first-half shots.
The Bearcats found an equalizer early in the second half, which then resulted in a yellow card being issued to Toves in goal. Five minutes later, Willamette struck again, taking a 2-1 lead over the Wildcats.
Evan Stafford came close to tying the score again with a shot in the 70th minute that drifted just wide, while Blanchard continued to test the Bearcats' defense with efforts from distance. Nevertheless, Willamette was able to hold on, and knock off Linfield, 2-1.
Toves finished with three saves across 90 minutes, while Blanchard accounted for three of the 'Cats five-total shots in the game.
Men's soccer gets back on the pitch in a pair of weeks, set to host Whitman and Whitworth at the Linfield Soccer/Lacrosse Complex, with both matches starting at 2:45 p.m.
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