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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2016)
Sports B1 Appeal Tribune, www.silvertonappeal.com Wednesday, August 3, 2016 COURTESY PHOTOS Kemar Prince, a three-year starter for Corban, said he improves with every training session. CORBAN PLAYERS STANDOUT IN N.C. LUIS RAMIREZ STATESMAN JOURNAL The Charlotte Eagles became a home away from home for four Corban men’s soccer players this summer as they made the journey across the country to play for one of the top Premier Develop- ment League (PDL) teams in the country. Headlining the group was former Cascade standout, Jordan Farr, one of the top goalkeepers in the NAIA a season ago. “The Eagles are a very high level or- ganization and I wasn’t really aware of that until I looked into them,” Farr said. “This is definitely one of the better teams you can play for in the PDL (and) after talking to (Eagles) coach (Dave) Dixon, I was really attracted to the or- ganization and what they do in the com- munity.” Also making the journey were Qua- mie Dinnall, Kemar Prince and Timur Zhidvidze. Dinall and Prince both hail from Ja- maica and are both heading into their senior seasons. Dinall led the team in scoring last year with nine goals and Prince has been a three-year starter on the squad, lead- ing the team in scoring his freshman year. “It’s a real different league and there are a lot of talented guys so we have high- er expectations,” Prince said. “I think I could have done better, however I’m in the process of getting better with every training session.” Last season, Farr was one of the na- tional leaders in goals allowed average (GAA), only allowing 10 goals all season for a 0.51 mark. His 56 saves were also among the best in the country. Farr kept the pace with the Eagles as he finished the season tied for first in GAA (0.25) and finished second in save percentage (.929). “This season’s team is super talented (and) it’s a team that’s really established not only in the league, but also in this side of the country,” Farr said. “I get to train every day with a high level keeper coach and I’ve worked my way into a starting role.” After cruising through their division in the regular season and putting up a record of 11-2-1, the Eagles fell in the Eastern Conference semifinals to Ocean City (9-5-0), 1-0. The end result was disappointing for the squad, but the players learned plenty of valuable lessons to bring back to Cor- ban. “The level of soccer has to be high with how we want to play, as we have a lot Headlining the group with the Charlotte Eagles was former Cascade standout, Jordan Farr, one of the top goalkeepers in the NAIA a season ago. REACH US: Cliff Kirkpatrick, ckirkpatr@Salem.gannett.com of passing and possession of the ball,” Farr said. “I was talking to the guys and we’re all excited to come back to Corban and bring back what we’ve experienced and what we’ve learned over here.“ Despite traveling across the country in extremely hot and humid temper- atures, the players were excited to hone their craft in Charlotte. The move was made a lot easier for each of the players because they were joined by fellow teammates on the trip. “The transition was made very com- fortable with having some close team- mates along in the journey,” Farr said. “It was tough getting acclimated to not only the humidity, but also the area. Get- ting into the team would have been more difficult if we had been alone.” lramirez@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/@LuisRamirez10