Bearcats Tie School Record for Goals in Win Over Multnomah, 11-0

By Mark Colachico, Interim Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, ORE. -- In a non-conference contest Saturday at Sparks Field, Willamette University tied the program's single-game record for goals in an 11-0 victory over Multnomah University (Ore.). With the win, Willamette evens its record at 3-3-0 and Multnomah falls to 0-5-0 in its first season of intercollegiate competition.

A single-game record set in 1982 against Linfield was tied 32 years later by the 2014 Bearcats behind a season-high 37 shots that included 18 on-goal, as Willamette put seven shots into the back of the net in the first half before adding four more in the final 45 minutes of play.

Yazan Hishmeh (Jr., F, Ventura, CA/Saint Bonaventure HS) scored the second hat trick of his career behind goals in the 11th, 52nd, and 53rd minutes. The junior forward equaled his career-high for goals in a single game following the first hat trick of his collegiate career on October 19, 2013 against George Fox. Hishmeh would also add an assist in the 23rd minute for a total of seven points in the game.

Christopher Barnes (So., MF/D, Los Altos, CA/Mountain View HS) would get the scoring started in the third minute when he headed home a corner kick from Tyler Yates (Jr., F, Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) for the eventual game-winner and his first goal of the season.

Four minutes later, Jesse Thompson (Jr., F, Santa Ynez, CA/Santa Ynez Valley Union HS) teamed with Yates for his second goal of the season. The scoring play would begin with Yates sending a crossing pass into the box where Thompson one-timed a shot into the right side of the net at the 7:35 mark.

Just over three minutes later, Hishmeh would score his first goal of the night off an assist by Alan Hernandez (Fr., F, Tigard, OR/Tigard HS) that extended the Bearcats' lead to three goals. Hernandez would find Hishmeh with a pass to the middle before he took one quick dribble around a MU defender before unleashing a shot into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

Hernandez would get into the scoring act less than four minutes later when he rifled a shot from 20 yards out into the upper right corner for his second goal of the year at the 14:06 mark.

In the 23rd minute, Garrett Ross (Jr., F, Pacific Palisades, CA/Oakwood Secondary) would tally his first goal of the season off an assist by Hishmeh. The scoring play would begin with a pass from Hishmeh behind MU's defense to a wide-open Ross, who beat Multnomah's keeper in a one-on-one situation at the 22:44 mark.

Eight minutes later, Sam Zanetta (Jr., MF, Pasadena, CA/La Salle HS) teamed with Yates on a shot from 20 yards out off a throw-in that found the back of the net and extended Willamette's lead to six goals.

In the final seconds of the opening half, Sam Adelman (Jr., D, Arroyo Grande, CA/Arroyo Grande HS) would lift a high arching shot from 45 yards out up that snuck under the cross bar and over a leaping MU keeper for the last score of the first half with only three seconds on the clock.

The second half would begin with Hishmeh scoring back-to-back goals in less than a minute off assists by Emmanuel Vilchez (Fr., F, Salem, OR/South Salem HS) and Alex Shimberg (So., F, Concord, CA/Clayton Valley Charter). Hishmeh's first goal of the second half at 51:03 came on a sliding, one-timer that rolled straight across the mouth of the goal off the foot of Vilchez. Hishmeh's third and final goal of the night at 52:21 happened after a pass from Shimberg behind MU's defense and a shot into the lower right corner.

Shimberg got into the scoring act in the 64th minute when he received a pass from Nolan Douglass (Fr., F, Salem, OR/Sprague HS) for his first goal of the season. Douglass would begin the scoring play with a pass across the mouth of the goal where Shimberg was waiting and one-timed a shot into the back of the net to extend the Bearcats' lead to double digits at 63:29.

Willamette's record-tying goal came in the 75th minute when Vilchez dribbled around a Multnomah defender and unleashed a shot into the lower left corner of the goal for his first collegiate score at the 74:37 mark to cap the night's scoring.

The Bearcats would use four different goalkeepers - Braydon Calder (Jr., GK, Philomath, OR/Philomath HS), Julian Juarez (Jr., GK, Honolulu, HI/Punahou School), Josh Fuentes (So., GK, Salem, OR/South Salem HS), and Quinn Nottage (Fr., GK, Portland, OR/Franklin HS) - to register a combined one save. Meanwhile, Multnomah split time between two net-minders, JD Leonard and Jamal Teano, with the duo combining to register seven saves on the night.

Multnomah would get shots from Ben Burke and Austin Davis, as Davis tallied the Lions' only shot on goal of the night that forced Juarez to make Willamette's lone save in the game in the 14th minute.

Overall, Willamette tallied 21 shots in the first half and 16 in the final frame, while Multnomah registered one shot in each half. The Bearcats held the advantage in corner kicks (8-to-1), while a clean played game resulted in only 12 combined fouls being called.

Willamette will return to action in its Northwest Conference opener on Friday (Sept. 20) against Whitman College (Wash.). Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. (PDT) in Walla Walla, Washington.