Blessinger Leads Owls Past Warriors

ROCKLIN, Calif. — Daniel Blessinger scored his second goal of the match with just under nine minutes to play and Oregon Tech clipped William Jessup University, 3-2, in a nonleague men's soccer match Saturday.

His first goal opened the scoring and came on OIT's first shot of the match, and Kyle Wright had the assist.

About 5½ minutes before halftime, Anthony Santillan picked up his second goal of the season, off an assist from Xander Ferere and the Hustlin' Owls took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.

Midway through the second half, William Jessup tied the match.

Blessinger's final goal, his third of the season off an assist from John Sarna, gave Tech the lead for good and helped the Owls up their season record to 2-0-1.

"It was a great finish to a solid road trip for the gentlemen," OIT head coach Brandon Porter said.

"We didn't stay composed long enough to put it out of reach for Jessup, and they made it into a hard-fought match in the second half," he added. "We, as a team and coaching staff, need to be better at staying composed and focused for the full match. We are proud of the guys and hope we can take this success one game at a time."

Tech will continue its road efforts with a match at Pacific University Thursday (Porter's alma mater), and a contest at George Fox University next Friday.

The Hustlin' Owls play their home match at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, when they host Southern Oregon University to begin Cascade Collegiate Conference play.