Box score, play-by-play

SEATTLE – An eventful weekend for Andy Wolverton got even more exhilarating Saturday afternoon.

Wolverton notched his first career hat trick – converting two of the goals on penalty kicks – leading Seattle Pacific to a 4-2 men's soccer home victory against Northwest Nazarene and keeping the Falcons undefeated in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.



“I feel overwhelmed right now,” Wolverton said immediately after his three-goal outburst. He could have expressed the same sentiment Friday night after he proposed marriage to his long-time girlfriend.

Wolverton parlayed Friday's proposal into an engagement just as successfully as he converted a pair of penalty kicks into goals Saturday.

Coach Mark Collings commended Wolverton's play after Saturday's triumph.

“Andy is just reliable. We know what we are going to get from him every time he steps on the field and you can't replace that.

“We know we can rely on him and he came up huge tonight with three goals, the first hat trick for our program in a long time. It couldn't happen for a better young man and I'm thrilled for him and our team.”

At 3-0-1 with 10 points in the GNAC, the Falcons (3-4-2 overall) are off to their best start ever in the GNAC. Their previous best after four games was 3-1-0 in 2001 and 2004.

A senior midfielder, Wolverton (Portland, Ore.) entered Saturday's game at Interbay Stadium with five goals for his entire SPU career. He now has eight, with a team-leading four of those this season.

Junior midfielder Tyler Schultz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) notched his third goal of the year for SPU, opening the scoring late in the 20th minute. Wolverton took over after that, drilling a penalty kick in the final minute of the first half, chipping a shot over NNU goalkeeper Mitch Rice late in the second half, then punching in his second PK with 2:20 left in the game.

Schultz put the Falcons on the board at 19:55. Freshman Kodiac Gamble (Tucson, Ariz.) sent a low cross from the right side into the 6-yard box. Rice dove to knock it away, but it went out toward the top center of the box where Schultz was there to boot it in from 15 yards.

Chris Voth tied it for NNU (4-4-0, 1-3-0 GNAC) at 32:33. Salvador Sanchez sent a corner kick from the right side toward the near post. Voth redirected it with his foot, and it bounced around a Falcons defender and into the net.

Wolverton's penalty kick just 31 seconds away from halftime put Seattle Pacific back in front. Falcons sophomore midfielder Richie Evoy (Bend, Ore.) was fouled in the box when NNU defender Stephen Davidson went over his back in the top left corner of the box. Wolverton buried the ensuing PK into the upper left corner past Rice.

“We played hard tonight and certainly made it a little more difficult than I would have liked. But we kept coming back,” Collings said. “The penalty kick at the end of the half really helped. Andy buried it.”



The Crusaders pulled level again early in the second half. John DiLulo gained control of the ball just beyond the midfield stripe and dribbled in on goal. Falcons goalkeeper Zach Johnson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) came out to cut down the angle, but DiLulo chipped it over him, and it bounced in at 49:43.

“We definitely had the run of play in the first half and it was unfortunate that their first shot on goal was a goal. In the second half we came out and gave up another one early and then after that we really had our way with them,” Collings concluded.

Sophomore defender Brandon Kuenzi (Silverton, Ore.) started the play that led to Wolverton's game-winning goal when he gained control of the ball on the right wing side between the midfield line and the top of the penalty area in the NNU half. Kuenzi floated a target ball toward the far side of the box, and Wolverton got it down, controlled it, and chipped it over Rice from 18 yards away. The ball bounced into the back right corner at 72:07.

“I was able to slip behind a defender and take it with my chest,” Wolverton described. “I saw the keeper come out and I just lobbed it over him.”

Then at 87:40, Davidson again took down Evoy in the box – this time in the top right corner. Wolverton beat Rice to the back right corner with the penalty kick to secure the hat trick.

The Falcons doubled Northwest Nazarene's shot total, 20-10, and generated 13 corner kicks to just four for the Crusaders.

Johnson did not made a save for SPU and his Crusaders counterpart Mitch Rice stopped five shots.

Seattle Pacific takes on Simon Fraser for the first time in GNAC play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium.
 

NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.

Seattle Pacific 4, Northwest Nazarene 2

Scoring – 1, SPU: Tyler Schultz (Kodiac Gamble), 19:55; 2, NNU: Chris Voth (Salvador Sanchez), 32:20; 3, SPU: Andy Wolverton (PK), 44:29; 4, NNU: John DiLulo (unassisted), 49:43; 5, SPU: Wolverton (Brandon Kuenzi), 72:07; 6, SPU: Wolverton (PK), 87:40.

Shots – SPU 20, NNU 10.
Saves – SPU 0 (Zach Johnson), NNU 5 (Mitch Rice).
Corner kicks – SPU 13, NNU 4.
Fouls – SPU 14, NNU 12.
Offsides – SPU 1, NNU 0.
Cautions – SPU: Richie Evoy, Gamble. NNU: Stephen Davidson.
Attendance – 334.

Records –
Seattle Pacific 3-4-2, 3-0-1 GNAC
Northwest Nazarene 4-4-0, 1-3-0 GNAC.

Next game –
Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific
Wednesday, Oct. 6, Interbay Stadium, 7:00 p.m.