PORTLAND | Nick Evans drilled two penalty kicks within three minutes of each other for the Knights to walk away with a 2-1 victory over the Bushnell University Beacons on Monday afternoon. The two goals bring him to 12 on the season, leading the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Knights move to 10-3 (6-3 CCC) on the season with one last regular season game to go with hopes for an At-Large bid to the NAIA National Tournament to come.
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The Rundown
From the looks of the stat sheet, it would be safe to assume the Knights ran away with the victory, considering Warner Pacific finished the day with 29 shots, but fortunately for the Beacons, the Knights couldn't convert on the multitude of opportunities.
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While Warner Pac managed to fire off 29 shots while the Knights' defense held the Beacons to just nine.
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Fifteen minutes into the match, Bushnell took it upon themselves to pressure Warner Pac as Cristoph Mai found the end of a Zach Reese through ball and sent the ball past the shins of Knights keeper
Luis Hernandez to take a quick 1-0 lead over the WPU.
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In the 35
th minute, attacking the Beacon backline,
Arturo Bahena drew a Bushnell foul in the 18-yard box for a chance for the equalizer. The calm and collected
Nick Evans, the conference's leading scorer, stepped to the ball and drilled it above the leaping hands of Bushnell keeper Zach Cisneros.
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Just two-and-a-half minutes left, Evans himself, charging towards the Bushnell goal, drew the shove from behind, giving him yet another free opportunity. This time for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal. Evans blasted his second PK of the day past the keeper and the Knights took the 2-1 lead with just ninety seconds remaining in the half.
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The latter 45 minutes of play saw 13 Warner Pacific shots with a handful of crossbar and post deflections. The aggressive front line of Warner Pacific had their fair share at extra insurance but failed to capitalize.
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Ultimately, as has been the story of the season, the Knight backline did their job, keeping the ball off the goal line to secure the team's tenth win of the season.
Luis Hernandez finished the day with three saves while Bushnell's Cisneros closed out the day with five.
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Deeper Look
Warner Pacific took 14 corner kicks as opposed to their allowed three
Nick Evans moves his way to the top of the CCC leader board with 12 goals
Warner Pacific continues its best season in 12 years
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Flash Forward
The Knights close out the regular season in a battle against the Beacons once more on Tuesday at 2pm with hopes of being granted an At-Large bid, set to be announced mid-April. Â Â Â
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