September 8, 2009
SEATTLE – Sophomore
Danny Brill gave Seattle Pacific the lead for good soon after he came off the bench late in the first half of Tuesday's 3-1 non-conference men's soccer victory over Cal State Monterey Bay at the Otter Soccer Complex.
The Falcons (4-0-2) came away from the first road outing with their undefeated record intact. They concluded a season-opening five-game homestand on Saturday.
Monterey Bay (0-3) was defeated by more than one goal for the first time this season.
“We probably could have had seven goals today,” Falcons coach
Mark Collings said. “It was important for us to get out on the road and play away from our comfort zone at home. Between traveling and playing on grass it took us a while.”
Brill opened the scoring just six minutes after entering the game. Freshman
Christopher Morris (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island HS) beat a couple defenders down the right flank before serving a cross that Brill volleyed from eight yards into the Otters net at 38:40. That was the first collegiate goal for the sophomore from Kentwood (Wash.) High School.
Tyler Schultz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) extended the Falcons lead to 2-0 five minutes after halftime. Sophomore
Drew Williams (Bend, Ore.) dribbled into the box and slipped a diagonal through pass that Schultz collected before sending a 10-yard strike into the goal at 50:16.
Monterey Bay got on the board just over two minutes later. SPU sophomore
Elliot Morton (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) drew a yellow card for a play in the box that awarded the Otters a penalty kick. Nate Torricelli converted the shot at 52:29 for just the second goal against the Falcons in 582 minutes of play this season.
“The guys are upset about giving up a goal. We are really trying to focus on not giving anything away, so it's unfortunate that we gave up the goal that we did,” said Collings. “Overall we were pretty solid.
Brandon Kuenzi and
Andy Wolverton did a great job at the outside back positions at applying pressure. Jon (Pearman) and Elliot (Morton) were steady as usual. Kaleb (Kuehn) made the stops that we needed him to. It was a total team effort.”
SPU netted an insurance goal at 61:28 on a play that mirrored their second tally. Senior
Alec Nelson (Lynnwood, Wash./Meadowdale HS) brought the ball into the box before distributing a pass that
Ryan Brand (Portland, Ore.) finished for his second goal of the season.
Sophomores accounted for all three goals for the youthful Falcons, whose 26-player roster includes 20 underclassmen. SPU started five freshmen on Tuesday and three other first-year players came off the bench.
Junior
Kaleb Kuehn (Marysville, Wash./Marysville-Pilchuck HS) was credited with one save in goal for the Falcons. Brenden Baca and Sam Campanelli each registered two saves for Monterey Bay.
SPU outshot the Otters by a 13-6 margin.
After six games a year ago, the SPU men had a 1-3-2 record and allowed 12 goals. They are unbeaten this year, yielding just two opposing tallies.
The Falcons return home to Interbay Stadium to host 20th-ranked Metro State on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 3 p.m.
“It will be a big one. It's always tough to play a team that keeps the ball as well as they do,” Collings projected. “They are very good and very organized. Ken (Parsons) has done a great job.
“It will be fun to play another good team and try to keep this going. We haven't had an easy game on our schedule yet. We are enjoying trying to take on each of these challenges one at a time.”
NCAA Men's Soccer
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Otter Soccer Complex/Seaside, Calif.
Seattle Pacific 3, Cal State Monterey Bay 1
Scoring – 1, SPU,
Danny Brill (
Christopher Morris), 38:40. 2, SPU,
Tyler Schultz (
Drew Williams), 50:16. 3, CSMB, Nate Torricelli (pk), 52:29. 4, SPU,
Ryan Brand (
Alec Nelson), 61:28.
Shots – SPU 13, CSMB 6.
Saves – SPU 1 (
Kaleb Kuehn), CSMB 4 (Brenden Baca 2, Sam Campanelli 2).
Corner Kicks – SPU 3, CSMB 2.
Fouls – SPU 6, CSMB 15.
Offsides – SPU 1, CSMB 2.
Attendance -- 125.
Records –
Seattle Pacific 4-0-2.
Cal State Monterey Bay 0-3-0
Next game –
#20 Metro State at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Sept. 12th, 3:00 p.m. at Interbay Stadium
