LOS ANGELES -- First luck, and then the clock ran out on the Seattle Pacific men's soccer team.
Tyler Schultz scored his fifth goal in the last four games, getting the equalizer for the Falcons early in the 76th minute, but an own goal with just 1:08 left in regulation lifted 10th-ranked Cal State Los Angeles past 22nd-ranked SPU in a nonconference game at Jesse Owens Stadium on Wednesday night, 2-1.
“I liked the way our team bounced back and got a goal in a tough environment,” Seattle Pacific coach Mark Collings said. “But at the end of the day, they were better than us.”
Sophomore midfielder Schultz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) took a pass from freshman midfielder Richie Evoy (Bend, Ore.) on a counterattack, and ripped a 20-yarder into the net from the right wing side at 75:05 on what was just the fifth shot of the night for SPU (10-3-3 overall, 3-2-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference).
The second half of Seattle Pacific's tough two-game road trip is Friday night against defending NCAA Division II champion Cal State Dominguez Hills at 7 p.m.
Schultz' goal was his team-leading eighth of the season, five of which have come in the past 10 days: the game-winner last Monday on the road against then-No. 17 Grand Canyon, two in a 3-2 loss at Saint Martin's last Wednesday, one in a 4-1 romp past Montana State Billings last Saturday, and Wednesday night's tally.
But the Golden Eagles (14-2-1), who were No. 1 in NCAA Division II until back-to-back losses two weeks ago, outshot SPU for the game, 25-5. One of those was a penalty kick by Aza Gomez at 41:26, awarded after a CSULA player was knocked down in the box. Gomez drove his shot into the upper back center of the net.
“Cal State L.A. is a very good team. They did some things that caused us problems,” Collings said. “Certainly, they could have had one before the penalty kick. The PK changed the game.”
The Eagles had a 10-2 shot advantage through the first half, and it was up to 20-2 with 20 minutes left in the game.
But that's when the Falcons started to click. They nearly had the equalizer midway through the 73rd minute when freshman defender Corey McGuire (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River HS) had a close-range shot bounce off the upper right side of the crossbar.
It wasn't quite three minutes later when Schultz pulled SPU even. The game appeared headed for overtime until the own goal at 88:52, the result of a scramble directly in front of the left post.
In addition to the shot count, Cal State Los Angeles eight corner kicks to SPU's three.
“The game wasn't as tilted as the stats indicated,” Collings said. “They put us under a lot of pressure, and we didn't settle down and do what we needed to do (until the late run).”
Wednesday's game was Seattle Pacific's fourth against a nationally ranked team this season. The Falcons played to a 0-0 double-overtime tie against then-No. 17 Sonoma State on Aug. 31; scored a 4-1 victory against then-No. 20 Metro State of Denver on Sept. 12, and beat then-No.17 Grand Canyon last Monday, 1-0.
Dominguez Hills, despite being the reigning D-2 champions, is unranked this season at 11-5-1, but beat SPU conference rival Western Washington on Wednesday night, 3-0.
NCAA Men's Soccer
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Jesse Owens Stadium/Los Angeles, Calif.
#10 Cal State Los Angeles 2, #22 Seattle Pacific 1
Scoring -- 1, CSULA: Aza Gomez (PK), 41:26; 2, SPU: Tyler Schultz (Richie Evoy), 75:05; 3, CSULA: Own goal, 88:52.
Shots -- SPU 5, CSULA 25.
Saves -- SPU (Kaleb Kuehn) 8, CSULA (Tobias Hummel) 0.
Corner kicks -- SPU 3, CSULA 8.
Fouls -- SPU 12, CSULA 11.
Offsides -- SPU 4, CSULA 1.
Attendance -- 375.
Records
Seattle Pacific 10-3-3, 3-3-1 GNAC.
Cal State Los Angeles 14-2-1, 12-2-1 CCAA.
Next match -- Seattle Pacific at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Friday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m.
