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6A Wednesday, November 13, 2019 The Observer Strong second half pushes Kings past Blazers, 107-99 By Michael Wagaman The Associated Press Ronald Bond/Observer fi le photo Eastern Oregon goalkpeeper Max Rose is shown during a match earlier this season. Rose stopped three straight shots in the penalty kick round to help EOU advance past Oregon Tech in the CCC tournament Tuesday. Mounties win on PKs By Ronald Bond The Observer The Eastern Oregon University men’s soccer team reached today’s Cascade Collegiate Conference tourna- ment semifi nal in a manner fi tting of its season. Jack Rose converted the go-ahead penalty kick in the seventh round of PKs, and his brother Max Rose made three saves in a row during the PK round to send Eastern past Oregon Tech on penalties, 4-3, Tuesday in Springfi eld after the teams battled to a scoreless draw in regulation and two overtime periods. “They fought together the whole time,” EOU head coach Zach Mills said. “We thought we could beat them in regular time, especially when they went down a man with that red.” The Mountaineers had a man advantage for nearly half the contest after John Sarna was given a red card in the 57th minute, leaving OIT to fi n- ish 10 vs. 11. Eastern had ample opportunities, outshooting the Owls 23-3, but were unable to fi nd the back of the net. Tech goalkeeper Mitchell Jillson had six saves through 110 minutes of action. Eastern also had two shots — includ- ing one in the fi nal moments of the second OT — hit either the crossbar or the post. EOU fell behind 3-1 in the PK round, but staged a rally akin to the kind that put the Mountaineers in the tournament to begin with. Elvis Pavon and Joaquin Bermejillo both converted their must-have shots to keep the season alive, with Max Rose making a save following Bermejillo’s kick to force extra PKs. Both teams missed in the sixth round, but Jack Rose stepped into a kick to put the Mountaineers up for the fi rst time, and Max stopped the ensuing shot to send EOU to the semifi nals. “When we went behind two on penalties I still believed we’d win even if the odds were not in our favor,” Max Rose said. “After saving the fi rst one I tried to get in the heads of the opposi- tion and it must have worked because I saved the next two. The team’s worked hard all year, so when it came down to PKs I knew I had to step up and we came up big.” Mills gave a ton of credit to his sophomore keeper for keeping the team in the contest. “Everyone felt good about Max being between the posts, and even though we went down 3-1 in penalties to start they didn’t shake,” he said. “The next guys up had the confi dence they needed because they knew it wasn’t See Eastern / Page 8A EOU trio named first-team all-CCC SACRAMENTO, Cali- fornia — After a slow and sluggish start in their fi rst game without leading scorer De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento eventually found a nice rhythm with Bogdan Bogda- novic running the offense. Luke Walton was even more impressed with his team’s defense, something that’s been an ongoing issue for the Kings. Bogdanovic had 25 points and 10 assists, Nemanja Bjelica added 19 points and 12 rebounds and the Kings won in their fi rst game since losing leading scorer Fox to an ankle injury, beating the slumping Portland Trail Blazers 107-99 on Tuesday night. Sacramento forced 17 turnovers and prevented Portland’s potent backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum from tak- ing over. “It’s what we’ve been preaching about every day since Day 1 of training camp,” Walton said. “I’ll be the fi rst to admit it needs to get a lot better. We started the game, we couldn’t make anything. That’s why defense is important. Every night won’t go like that but the competitive level that we played with on the defensive end tonight, that needs to be a steady constant for us.” The Kings overcame a sloppy fi rst half when they shot 36.7 percent, made a big run in the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth to end a two-game losing streak to the Blazers. Fox suffered a Grade 3 sprain in his left ankle dur- ing practice Monday. The third-year point guard, who started 81 games last season, will be reevaluated in a few weeks. “Ankle sprains happen a lot in the NBA. But it is unfortunate that it is as severe as it is,” Walton said. “What’s important is that our team comes together, grows, fi ghts, and gets bet- ter. And he attacks his rehab and get back with us as soon as he can.” Bjelica helped make up for the loss of Fox. He made eight of his 14 shots and set a season-high for rebounds in his fi rst double-double of the season. Buddy Hield added 20 points. Lillard had 27 points and McCollum added 24 for the Blazers (4-7), who have lost fi ve of six. Nearly half of Lil- lard’s points (13) came at the free throw line. “The third quarter got away from us defensively and we had some trouble with matchups,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “They got off to a good start in the third quarter and built a lead. We really couldn’t recover after that.” The Kings led by 14 early in the fourth quarter before the Blazers chipped away and pulled within 98-93 on a 3-pointer from Anfernee Simons with 2:51 remaining. Bjelica answered with a 3, and after McCollum scored for Portland, Cory Joseph added a 3-pointer that made it 104-95. Joseph, starting in place of Fox, missed his fi rst fi ve shots before that. “We kept fi ghting, played great defense and we knew we were going to make shots in the second half,” Bjelica said. “Everybody played well.” Camacho, Retano both take first at Clackamas Open Observer staff Ronald Bond/Observer fi le photo Ronald Bond/Observer fi le photo Nan Kiebert, who led Eastern Oregon with 11 goals this season, was named fi rst-team all-CCC. Morgan Farrington, who scored seven goals in CCC action, was named fi rst-team all-conference. Observer staff and three goals and three assists overall on the season — but, more important, played a key role helping anchor the EOU defense, which recorded seven shut- outs in conference play and 10 overall during the regu- lar season. Eastern overall allowed just 10 goals in 16 regular-season contests. Cydni Cottrell, last year’s goalkeeper of the year, followed up the effort by being named second-team all-conference. The senior started all 11 CCC matches, and 15 overall. In CCC play she registered 27 saves on Seven members of the Eastern Oregon University women’s soccer team were named to the all-Cascade Collegiate Conference squad, including three play- ers who garnered fi rst-team all-conference honors when the awards were handed out late Monday night. “I thought all our ladies were very much deserving of those awards,” head coach Jacob Plocher said. “Obvi- ously it’s a team effort, and I think they would all say that. (I’m) really excited about our team moving forward.” Nan Kiebert and Morgan Farrington — who were EOU’s top scorers both throughout the season and in conference play — were selected to the fi rst team, as was senior defender Josee Bassett. Kiebert, a senior, had a team-best 11 goals and seven assists, all in just 10 CCC games, to lead the Mountaineers. Farrington, a junior, had seven of her nine goals and fi ve of her six assists in 11 games in CCC action. Bassett had a goal and an assist in conference play — 35 shot attempts for a 77% save percentage. All told in 2019, she had 41 saves on 50 shots for an 82% save rate. A trio of players were named honorable mention — junior Sarah Mitchell, junior Camie Edgington and freshman Cassidy Quick. Edgington played a role in the offense this season with three goals and fi ve assists in conference action, and four goals overall, playing in each contest and starting all but two. Mitchell contrib- uted as a defender and See Awards / Page 8A Both Jesse Camacho and Marco Retano picked up tournament titles for the Eastern Oregon University men’s wrestling team during the Clackamas Open Satur- day in Clackamas. Camacho went 4-0 at 157 pounds. He won two one-point decisions in the semifi nal and fi nal match, including edging Highline Community College’s John Sowers in the fi nals by a 10-9 decision. Retano won fi ve matches at 184 pounds, and didn’t have as many close bouts on his way to the champion- ship, fi nishing off Highline’s Hayden Henry by fall in just 1:49 in the title bout. Keegan Mulhill also reached the fi nals of the tournament at 174 pounds, where he dropped an 8-2 de- cision to Corban’s Levi Perry to fi nish 3-1 on the day. Three Mountaineers took fourth. Blake McNall went 5-1 to fi nish fourth at 141 pounds, Jared Brant fi nished with a 3-2 record at 149, and Josh Pine went 5-1 at 165. Eastern is back on the mat Sunday at the men’s Mike Clock Open in Forest Grove. HIGA’S TITLE LEADS EOU WOMEN AT MIKE CLOCK OPEN Macy Higa took fi rst place to lead the Eastern Oregon University women’s wres- tling team at the women’s Mike Clock Open Sunday in Forest Grove. Higa won all four of her contested matches at 123 pounds for the title, including defeating Simon Fraser’s Vic- toria Seal by an 11-6 decision in the championship match. Jessica DeHart took sec- ond at 116 pounds, posting a 3-1 record, but dropping the fi nal bout to Simon Fraser’s Jocyln Bhatha by forfeit. Cassidy O’Hara rebounded from an early loss to take third at 130, winning her fi - nal three matches, including a 10-0 technical fall over Big Bend Community College’s Mireya Sanchez in the third- place match. Morgan Shines (136), Dempsi Talkington (155) and Alexis Tupuola (191) each took fourth place. Shines and Talkington each fi nished with 2-2 records on the day, while Tupuola was 1-3. EOU returns to action Sunday at the Missouri Val- ley Open.
