CALDWELL, Idaho - A pair of second half goals, just two minutes apart, helped Northwest University clinch a spot in the Cascade Conference Men's Soccer Postseason Tournament with a 2-0 victory over The College of Idaho at Simplot Stadium.
Box Score
Nathan Furtado flicked home a Carlos Portillo corner kick in the 58th minute to break a scoreless tie, with Alex Taylor following with a 25-yard strike that slipped through C of I keeper Colin Benham-Marin's hands and into the goal, as the Eagles (10-6-1, 8-5 CCC) completed a season sweep of the Yotes.
The Coyotes (2-10-4, 2-8-2) put the pressure on the Eagles throughout the first half – starting in the tenth minute as a ball played into the box to Luis Gomez was volleyed on goal, with NU keeper Joe Galbraith making a tremendous diving save to his left. In the 32nd minute, Emilio Yomaha eluded a charging Galbraith and lined a low shot to the near post, but a lunging boot from a Northwest defender kept the ball out of the net. The Eagles had their best chance of the period in the 29th minute, as a Ryan Gamache shot was blocked by Benham-Marin onto the foot of James Kerr, but his drive was snared by the Yotes netminder.
Northwest picked up the pace in the second half – as a header by Taylor Young was blocked out by Benham-Marin – but the visitors scored on the resulting corner kick.
Trailing 2-0, the Coyotes had four corner kick opportunities in the final 20 minutes, but couldn’t convert. Their best chance was in the 78th minute, when an unmarked Gomez drilled a 20-yard laser than just missed high.
The Coyotes dominated statistically, holding a 20-13 edge in shots, but NU held a 6-5 edge in shots on goal. The C of I also had nine corner kicks in the loss.
Next weekend, the Yotes close out the 2012 season with Friday and Saturday 1 p.m. starts against Oregon Tech.
