The Lane Titans Men's Soccer team made a statement Saturday afternoon in a 6-0 blowout over the Chemeketa Storm.
The Storm came into today's match in second place in the NWAC Southern Region with 12 points and a 2-1-3 record. The Titans, despite coming off of a pivotal road win over Pierce last Saturday, needed a win to stay in the hunt for a Region title and a playoff spot.
It did not take long before Mamadouba "Papa" Yansane, the reigning NWAC Player of the Week, continued his brilliant stretch and scored the first goal of the match in the 8th minute.
Zac Walker, the Titans leading goal scorer heading into today's match, made it 2-0 with a goal off of an assist by Griffin Rea in the 14th minute.
The rout was on when Jonathan Colunga scored his 4th goal of the season off of another assist by Griffin Rea in the 16th minute.
The Storm tried to rally but were unable to get anything going. The Titans ended up scoring again in the 23rd minute, this time it was Papa Yansane scoring the second goal of his hat trick off of another Griffin Rea assist, making the lead 4-0.
Less than two minutes later, Yansane scored again. The lead was now 5-0 in the 25th minute. The Titans scored 5 goals in the span of seventeen minutes and never looked back.
Coming out of the half with a 5-0 lead, Jonathan Colunga scored another goal in the 50th minute to build the lead to 6-0.
The Storm were unable to connect on a goal for the duration of the match, which ended 6-0 and pushed the Titans to 3-4 on the year with 9 points in the Southern Region.
Scoring is nothing new to this Titan team. They have scored 23 goals in 7 matches in 2024. They have, however, struggled on the defensive end of the field early in the season.
That changed today as the Titans completed their first shut-out of an opponent this season.
With a newfound focus on defense and the talent they possess at the forward position, the Titans are in a strong position to make a run in the NWAC Southern Region.
The Titans travel to Coos Bay on Wednesday to take on the Southwestern Oregon Lakers.