This past weekend, Linfield Soccer played two games.  Linfield won on the road against Multnomah in Portland 1-0, but then lost 4-0 at home to Corban University.

On Friday, the Linfield Wildcats traveled to Portland to play against the Multnomah Lions.  The match was a very defensive match, with neither side gaining a clear advantage over the other team for much of the game.  It was only in the eighty-eighth minute that Linfield could take the lead.  Thanks to handball committed by the Lions in the penalty box, the Wildcats were awarded a penalty kick.  Linfield’s Isiah Flores, ’21, stepped up and buried the ball in the back of the net, giving Linfield a 1-0 win.

Forward Tony Quesnell, ‘18, did not believe that Linfield deserved a penalty kick because he did not see a handball.

On Sunday, however, Linfield was completely outclassed both defensively and offensively against Corban University.  During the first half, Linfield played a 4-3-3 formation, but because of how closely Corban University was marking the midfielders, the defenders either had to attempt to pass to a marked midfielder or lob it downfield to a striker.  Corban University had two good goals in the first half, the first coming in the thirty-third minute in the left corner and the second four minutes later being slotted past the goalkeeper.

In the second half, Linfield switched to a 3-5-2 formation, which allowed for better interplay in the center of the field, but Linfield was still unable to score any goals.  But the defense from Corban was still top notch and the Lions were pressing high, forcing the center backs to pass quickly. During the second half, it helped that Austin Bebee, ‘18 started to play deeper in the center-mid role.

During the game, Linfield received two yellow cards and Corban received three. The most noticeable yellow card was in the eighty-eighth minute when one of Corban’s players pushed over Isaias Flores.  Normally, this would have been a red card, had Isaias previously provoked the player.

Tony Quesnell had this to say about the goals “that was in a lot of sense our guys not passing on a lack of communication.  Both those [first half goals] were us turning off our concentration.”

But despite the loss, it was not all bad.  Captain Dylan Shephard and Winger Chris Palmer both made their first appearance this season.

Linfield has their next game on Sept. 17 and 18 at home against Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound respectively.