September 21, 2009
BILLINGS, Mont. – Better late than never.
Freshman reserve
Richie Evoy created two goals during the final 83 seconds Monday, lifting the Seattle Pacific men to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory in a non-conference soccer game against the University of Mary at Wendy's Field.
Evoy (Bend, Ore.) scored the equalizer at 88:37 and 43 seconds later drew a foul in the box to earn the winning penalty kick at 89:20 by senior
Alec Nelson (Lynnwood, Wash./Meadowdale HS).
“He certainly bailed us out today,” said second-year SPU coach
Mark Collings. “We just were having a hard time finding a good combination up top. We were happy that Richie decided to play for a few minutes.”
The game was a neutral-site affair played at Rocky Mountain College, which is a five-hour drive from Mary's Bismarck, N.D. campus. The Falcons played two games during a three-day stay in Billings. They rallied for a 1-1 tie at Montana State Billings on Saturday in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener.
“It says a lot about the character of this team. We had two road games this weekend, both times we were down 1-0. We battled back the other day for the draw and today to score two goals in the last two minutes of the match is pretty incredible,” Collings said.
“To win championships you have to be able to pull games like this out, to believe in yourself and believe in each other. That's definitely what I am the most proud of. We certainly didn't have our best stuff today, but to find a way to win is really exciting for the team.”
SPU maintained its undefeated record, improving to 6-0-3. The Falcons have already equaled their win total from last season when they finished with a 6-10-3 mark.
The Marauders (4-6-1) were outshot by a 21-5 margin. But their third attempt breached the SPU goal. Nikola Nikolic dribbled to the right corner of the box and sent a strike into the left side-netting at 47:01.
Mary took a defensive posture, attempting to preserve its one-goal lead for the final 43 minutes. The extra defenders made it difficult for the Falcons to score despite a 14-3 advantage in second-half shots.
“They packed it in the whole second half. They might not have had a shot on goal the rest of the game,” said Collings. “We were all over them, but we just weren't very sharp today. We were really fortunate to get the win.”
SPU finally broke through with 1:23 left in the contest. Goalkeeper
Kaleb Kuehn (Marysville, Wash./Marysville-Pilchuck HS) served a long ball from his box to sophomore
Elliot Morton (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) who flicked a header into the Mary box. Evoy collected the ball on the left side and slotted a 16-yard shot inside the right post.
The Falcons quickly gained possession after the kickoff and Evoy again found himself with the ball in the Mary box. As he turned to face the goal, Evoy was fouled.
Nelson converted the ensuing penalty kick with 40 seconds left to play. That was the second successful penalty kick in as many tries this season for Nelson, who leads SPU with four goals and two game-winning scores.
Kuehn was not required to make a save for SPU, while his Mary counterpart Derek Luptak stopped eight shots.
Monday's game ended an extremely hectic stretch of schedule for the Falcons, who opened the season with five games in eight days.
The Seattle Pacific men have a 10-day break before they host Saint Martin's at Interbay Stadium on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.
Collings plans to use the time wisely.
“We need to tighten some things up. We're giving up goals and we can't do that. Certainly we need to start finishing our opportunities. We're creating a lot of chances, we're just not finishing. Also, we need to get healthy. Playing so many games, we've got a lot of guys with little injuries that are slowing them down a bit.
“Most importantly they are going to start school, which is ultimately why they are at SPU. So, we need to make sure that get off to a good start academically.”
NCAA Men's Soccer
Monday, September 21, 2009
Wendy's Field/Billings, Mont.
Seattle Pacific 2, University of Mary 1
Scoring – 1, Mary, Nikola Nikolic, 47:01. 2, SPU,
Richie Evoy (
Elliot Morton), 88:37. 3, SPU,
Alec Nelson (pk), 89:20.
Shots – SPU 21, Mary 5.
Saves – SPU 0 (
Kaleb Kuehn), Mary 8 (Derek Luptak).
Corner Kicks – SPU 9, Mary 1.
Fouls – SPU 6, Mary 15.
Offsides -- SPU 3, Mary 2.
Records –
Seattle Pacific 6-0-3
University of Mary 4-6-1
Next game –
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00 p.m., at Interbay Stadium
