Box score, play-by-play

SEATTLE – Freshman forward Blaine Carver had a hat trick – Seattle Pacific's second in two weeks – helping the Falcons finish their non-conference schedule with an 8-1 men's soccer victory against the University of Mary on Saturday at Interbay Stadium.

SPU (6-5-2) now has won three straight, is on a 6-1-1 run after an 0-4-1 start. The Falcons have climbed above .500 for the first time this season.

The Marauders, from Bismarck, N.D., fell to 0-14-0.

The margin of victory and the eight-goal total were Seattle Pacific's largest in 10 years – exactly to the day -- since a 13-0 rout of Montana State Billings on Oct. 16, 2000, at Interbay.

“We haven't always had those days so it was nice to be able to have that tonight,” said SPU coach Mark Collings.

The eight-goal outburst was a far cry from the Falcons early season scoring troubles. They did not record their eighth goal of the year until game No. 9. SPU closed out the non-conference slate with a flourish. They netted three goals on Thursday in home shutout victory over 19th-ranked Grand Canyon.

The Falcons resume Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Thursday, Oct. 21 at Northwest Nazarene at 3:30 p.m. before returning to Interbay Stadium for a Saturday, Oct. 23 contest against Montana State Billings at 7 p.m.



Carver (Soldotna, Alaska) had just one goal for the season coming into the game. But in the course of 18 minutes during the first half, he recorded a natural hat trick with consecutive goals at 6:09, 11:11 and 24:31. His performance followed on the heels of senior midfielder Andy Wolverton's hat trick on Oct. 2 in a 4-2 victory against Northwest Nazarene, also at Interbay.

Anthony Mohammed scored late in the 40th minute, followed by Tyler Schultz in the 60th, Richie Evoy in the 72nd, Kyle Smurdon in the 81st, and Ryan Brand late in the 90th for SPU.

Senior goalkeeper Kaleb Kuehn (Marysville, Wash./Marysville-Pilchuck HS), who posted a shutout Thursday in his 2010 debut, kept the Marauders off the scoreboard for 67 ½ minutes on Saturday, then gave way to junior Liviu Bird (Fairbanks, Alaska), who saw his first action as a Falcon.

Kuehn helped set up Carver's first tally with a long goal kick down field. It bounced over a UM defender and Carver ran onto the ball wide open about 30 yards up from the net. He took it into the box one-on-one against goalkeeper Derek Luptak and beat him to the back right corner from 14 yards away.

Carver made it 2-0 when, playing at the top left corner of the 6-yard box, he headed in a long, crossing target ball from freshman defender Kodiac Gamble (Tucson, Ariz.). Then, he completed the hat trick 13 minutes by drilling in a shot from six yards straight in front after Elliot Morton (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep HS) found him with a cross along the turf from the right side.

“It was nice to score a bunch of goals tonight. The early goals probably defeated a little bit of their spirit,” said Collings. “Blaine was fantastic early and those first three goals were quality, really, really great goals that set the tone for the night.”

Collings had high hopes when he recruited Carver, but questioned whether he could make an immediate impact.

“Being up in Alaska, we thought it might take him a little bit of time to get going and get acclimated to the pace of the game here. But, boy he's proved us wrong. He was ready from the very beginning.

“He was great tonight and we just think he's going to get better.”

The Falcons took a 4-0 lead into the locker room at halftime after red-shirt freshman midfielder Anthony Mohammed scored from directly in front of the right post at 39:54.

Junior midfielder Schultz (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who scored twice in Thursday's victory against Grand Canyon, notched his team-leading seventh at 59:16 to make it 5-0. Evoy's first of the year made it 6-0 at 72:07.

After Mary got one back at 73:33, sophomore defender Smurdon (Sherwood, Ore.) returned it to a six-goal margin when he scored his first collegiate goal at 80:08. Sophomore forward Brand capped the scoring with 10 seconds left in the game.

SPU outshot Mary, 35-7, and had 18 shots on the board before the Marauders got their first one with 2:30 left in the first half.

The Falcons were victorious in all three of their games against with Mary. Last year's meeting on Sept. 21 was dramatic as they played at neutral site Billings, Mont. and a frenetic finish put SPU on top. Evoy created two goals during the final 83 seconds of the 2-1 victory. He 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 Alec Nelson.




NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.

Seattle Pacific 8, University of Mary 1

Scoring – 1, SPU: Blaine Carver (Kaleb Kuehn), 6:09; 2, SPU: Carver (Kodiac Gamble), 11:11; 3, SPU: Carver (Elliot Morton), 24:31; 4, SPU: Anthony Mohammed (Richie Evoy), 39:54; 5, SPU: Tyler Schultz (Brandon Kuenzi, Morton), 59:16; 6, SPU: Evoy (unassisted), 72:07; 7, UM: Andrew Newhouse (Jose Pecego), 73:33; 8, SPU: Kyle Smurdon (Danny Brill), 80:08; 9, SPU: Ryan Brand (Darren Jewell), 89:50.

Shots – UM 7, SPU 35.
Saves – UM (Derek Luptak 1, Michael Frenzel 1) 2, SPU (Kuehn 0, Liviu Bird 1) 1.
Corner kicks – UM 1, SPU 9.
Fouls – UM 11, SPU 9.
Offsides – UM 1, SPU 5.
Cautions – UM: Matt Frost. SPU: Smurdon.
Ejections – None.
Attendance – 284.

Records –
Seattle Pacific 6-5-2
Mary 0-14-0

Next game –
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Thursday, Oct. 21, 3:30 p.m.