October 10, 2008
SEATTLE -- Saint Martin's got goals from three different players and picked up its first-ever Great Northwest Athletic Association men's soccer victory, controlling the game from the start en route to a 3-1 upset over first-place Seattle Pacific on Friday at Interbay Stadium.
Ruben Orozco drilled a direct free kick into the net early in the 20th minute, Mark Clark put a shot in from close range early in the 60th, and Kramer Clark scored from inside the box in the 75th for the Saints.
“Saint Martin's out worked us, plain and simple,” stated first-year SPU coach
Mark Collings. “They wanted to win more than we did.”
The Saints improved to 2-8-1 overall with a 1-2-1 conference record. The SMU program is in its second year of men's soccer at the NCAA Division II level after starting as a club sport in 2006. The Saints went 0-8-0 in GNAC play last year, 3-16-0 overall.
The Falcons dropped to 3-2 in conference play and 4-5-3 overall. They were coming off an impressive 3-1 victory over Western Washington on Wednesday that pushed them into first place.
“Wednesday, we made some adjustments at halftime and came out and executed,” Collings said. “Tonight we didn't do that. We just didn't play with any sense of urgency at all.”
SPU got off eight shots against the Saints, but only one of those came during the first half.
SMU, which dropped a 1-0 decision at home to Seattle Pacific in the Sept. 22 GNAC season opener for both teams, got off 14 shots.
Senior goalkeeper
Ben Lovelace (Cupertino, Calif.) kept the Falcons in the game early, registering four of his five saves during the first half when SMU posted a 10-1 shot advantage.
The Saints set up their first goal after SPU defender
Jordan Dettmer (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish) was whistled for a hard foul and issued a yellow card, giving the Saints a direct free kick 25 yards from the goal toward the left side. Orozco launched it over an SPU wall, and the ball sailed into the upper corner of the net just beyond the reach of Lovelace at 19:09.
Saint Martin's doubled its lead to 2-0 at the 59:16 mark. Cross started the play down on the left wing, sending the ball across the box to Austin Kelley. He got it to Clark, who was stationed on the top right corner of Lovelace's six-yard box, and Clark drove it into the roof.
The Saints sealed it when Nixon and Chase Franklin combined to get the ball to Cross 12 yards away on the right side, and he scored into the far corner at 74:06.
The Falcons finally got onto the board when freshman
Ryan Brand (Portland, Ore.) collected the ball from a scramble near the top of goalkeeper Zac Lubin's front porch and drove it into the back right corner at 81:50. Brand's goal was his third in two games after he went scoreless through the first 10 games of the season.
Saint Martin's got off six shots and had a goal on the board before the Falcons managed their first attempt.
Lubin stopped four shots for the Saints, three of them in the second half during which SPU had a slim 7-4 shot advantage.
Seattle Pacific's best first-half chance came near the midpoint.
Alec Nelson (Lynnwood, Wash./Meadowdale) broke away with the ball near the center of the field and crossed it to Brand breaking down the right wing. Brand took it into the right side of the box and sent a low-flying cross toward Nelson, who dove for the header, only to see the ball sail wide left.
The SPU men return to action Tuesday at Interbay Stadium for a non-conference game at 7 p.m. against crosstown rival Seattle University. The Redhawks were GNAC members last season who joined the NCAA Division I ranks this year.
NCAA Men's Soccer
Friday, October 10, 2008
Interbay Stadium, Seattle, Wash.
Saint Martin's 3, Seattle Pacific 1
Scoring -- 1, SMU, Ruben Orozco (free kick), 19:09. 2, SMU, Mark
Clark (Austin Kelley, Kramer Cross), 59:16. 3, SMU, Kramer Cross (Xan Nixon, Chase Franklin), 74:06. 4, SPU,
Ryan Brand (unassisted), 81:59.
Shots – SMU 14, SPU 8.
Saves – SMU 4 (Zac Lubin), SPU 5 (
Ben Lovelace).
Corner kicks – SMU 5, SPU 6.
Fouls – SMU 8, SPU 10.
Offsides – SMU 0, SPU 2.
Attendance -- 475.
Records –
Seattle Pacific 4-5-3, 3-2-0 GNAC
Saint Martin's 2-8-1, 1-2-1 GNAC
