September 19, 2009
BILLINGS, Mont. – Freshman
Jon Pearman scored his first collegiate goal in the 72nd minute Saturday, helping Seattle Pacific rally for a 1-1 tie against Montana State Billings in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer opener for both teams at Yellowjacket Field.
The Falcons (5-0-3) kept their undefeated record intact.
“I'm really proud of our guys. They worked really hard to come back from a goal down on the road,” said SPU coach
Mark Collings. “In conference play you have to find a way to get results and all the guys did that today.”
Pearman (Glendale, Ariz.) headed a near-post corner kick off the frame and into the goal at 71:16 for the equalizer.
The Yellowjackets (4-2-1) had taken a 1-0 lead on an 18th-minute strike by Sam Charles, the leading scorer in the conference. Charles, who has tallied a goal in every game this season, gathered a through ball in the middle of the box and directed it into the back of the net at 17:54.
“He's an absolute handful. He's big and strong and he's really clean in front of the goal,” Collings said of Charles. “It was their first shot on goal. We gave them the opportunity and he finished it.”
Junior
Kaleb Kuehn (Marysville, Wash./Marysville-Pilchuck) denied several other first-half advances by the Billings attack. All three of his saves came before halftime, including an outstanding stop of a 37th-minute attempt by Chris Andrew.
“Kaleb made a nice save on that play. He kept us in the game,” said Collings. “They probably had the better run of play in the first half and we came out a little flat. To their credit they were up for the game and played hard from the start.
“In the second half and overtime I really felt like we asserted ourselves, settled in and played better.”
After being outshot 6-4 in the first half, the Falcons registered a 14-4 advantage the rest of the way. SPU had an 11-3 shot lead in the second half and 3-1 during the two 10-minute overtimes.
“We felt in the second half that we probably should have put a couple away,” Collings said. “We just didn't finish.”
The final shot count showed 18 for the Falcons and 10 for MSUB.
Yellowjackets goalkeeper Matt Mitchell recorded four of his six saves during the second half.
The Falcons remain in Billings to play a neutral-site game against the University of Mary, Monday, Sept. 21. Kick-off is noon Pacific Time at Wendy's Field on the Rocky Mountain College campus.
After that game, the SPU men have a 10-day break before they host Saint Martin's at Interbay Stadium on Oct. 1 at 3 p.m.
NCAA Men's Soccer
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Yellowjacket Field/Seattle, Wash.
Seattle Pacific 1, Montana State Billings 1 (2ot)
Scoring – 1, MSUB, Sam Charles (Jeremy DeHerrera), 17:54. 2, SPU,
Jon Pearman, 71:16.
Shots – SPU 18, MSUB 10.
Saves – SPU 3 (
Kaleb Kuehn), MSUB 6 (Matt Mitchell).
Corner Kicks – SPU 8, MSUB 2.
Fouls – SPU 20, MSUB 15.
Offsides – SPU 4, MSUB 1.
Attendance -- 152.
Records –
Seattle Pacific 5-0-3, 0-0-1 GNAC
Montana State Billings 4-2-1, 0-0-1 GNAC
Next game –
Seattle Pacific vs. University of Mary
Monday, Sept. 21st, 12:00 p.m. at Billings, Mont.
