• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

NAMPA, Idaho -– Sophomore defender Elliot Morton netted a golden goal in the 100th minute Saturday, lifting the 25th-ranked Seattle Pacific men to a 2-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference soccer overtime victory over Northwest Nazarene at NNU Soccer Field.

“We almost gave one away, but big 'E' came through,” SPU coach Mark Collings said of Morton's decisive goal.  “The ball got deflected to Elliot who took a touch to beat a defender and then hammered it home with his left foot.”

The Falcons improved to 8-1-3 and 2-1-1 in conference play. NNU dropped to 5-7-1 with a 0-3-1 GNAC mark.

SPU sophomore Danny Brill (Kent, Wash./Kentwood HS) opened the scoring with a 10-yard header into the upper left corner for his second goal of the year. Brill's goal, at 36:00, came off a cross from the right flank by red-shirt freshman Corey McGuire (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River HS).

 

Junior goalkeeper Kaleb Kuehn (Marysville, Wash./Marysville-Pilchuck HS) preserved the slim lead into halftime, making three of his five saves during the opening period.

 

“Kaleb was steady,” Collings said. “He's doing a good job of making the saves we need him to and his distribution has been very good as far as allowing us to get out into the attack.”

 

The Crusaders got the equalizer at 79:33 on a penalty kick by Alex Mangeac that was the only ball to get past Kuehn.

 

Despite needing overtime to defeat NNU, Collings was pleased with the play of his Falcons.

 

The next 19 minutes, including the final 10:27 of regulation, were scoreless.

 

Morton (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep HS) abruptly ended the game with just 50 seconds left in the first overtime session. He gathered a deflection off a shot from sophomore teammate Drew Williams (Bend, Ore.), touched the ball around a defender and sent a 12-yard strike into the net at 99:10. The game-winner was Morton's second goal of the season.

 

Cesar Lira was credited with four saves for NNU. The two teams attempted an equal number of shots at 12 apiece. Morton's game-ending shot gave SPU a 3-2 edge in attempts during overtime.

 

Despite the even shot count, the Falcons were the aggressors. SPU attempted nine corner kicks to just three for NNU and was whistled for offsides on nine occasions to one for the Crusaders.

 

“We played actually pretty well, other than the penalty kick that they were awarded. We didn't really give up a lot of opportunities and we created a ton of chances.

 

“We just didn't finish today. It's a credit to our frontrunners, they made great runs today and our midfielders did a good job of finding them. We just couldn't finish. When you have days like that and still are able to pull out a victory on the road it big.”

 

With seven regular-season games remaining, the Falcons already have their most single-season wins since the 2006 squad finished with a 12-7 overall record.

 

The Seattle Pacific men remain on the road for their next two games, including a visit to 17th-ranked Grand Canyon on Monday, Oct. 12. Kick-off is 7:30 p.m. at GCU Soccer Field in Phoenix, Ariz.

 

“We'll be ready that's for sure. We just need come out and do what we do and try to relax. It's a big game with two teams in the top 25,” said Collings.

 

“Certainly Grand Canyon is a very good team. Playing in Phoenix is a very difficult place to play, but we've had some success there and we hope that that's able to continue on Monday night.

 

The next home game at Interbay Stadium for the Falcons is Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. against Montana State Billings.

 

NCAA Men's Soccer
Saturday, October 10, 2009
NNU Soccer Field/Nampa, Idaho

#25 Seattle Pacific 2, Northwest Nazarene 1 (ot)

Scoring -- 1, SPU, Danny Brill (Corey McGuire), 36:00. 2, NNU, Alex Mangeac (pk), 79:33. 3, SPU, Elliot Morton (Drew Williams), 99:10.

Shots – SPU 12, NNU 12.
Saves – SPU 5 (Kaleb Kuehn), NNU 4 (Cesar Lira).
Corner kicks – SPU 9, NNU 3.
Fouls – SPU 10, NNU 10.
Offsides – SPU 9, NNU 1.
Attendance -- 168.

Records --
Seattle Pacific 8-1-3, 2-1-1 GNAC
Northwest Nazarene 5-7-1,  0-3-1 GNAC

Next game --
#25 Seattle Pacific at #17 Grand Canyon
Monday, Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m., Phoenix, Ariz.