• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Tyler Bjork scored 38 seconds into the game Saturday helping Western Washington deal a severe blow to Seattle Pacific's postseason aspirations with a 2-0 shutout in the final regular-season men's soccer game for both teams at Orca Field.

The loss snapped the Falcons (10-6-2) seven-game winning streak. They placed second in the final Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with 22 points on a 7-2-1 record.

The SPU men finished five points behind league champion Simon Fraser, which posted a 9-1-0 record. SPU routed the Clan 4-0 on Thursday in Burnaby, B.C., the lone loss for the first-year GNAC member.

WWU (10-6-2) completed its season with a 5-4-1 league ledger.

The Vikings struck quickly as Jin Dangvan served a cross to the center of the goalmouth that Bjork headed inside the near post from six yards away.

“The early goal came after a poor clearance on our part and they were able to capitalize on our mistake,” SPU coach Mark Collings described. “I thought we made three mistakes in the first half and they capitalized on two of them. You have to give them credit, they executed.

“We unfortunately didn't have a great night and we're disappointed with our performance.”

WWU made it 2-0 on senior forward Gibson Bardsley's league-leading 18th goal. He ran on to a long through pass from Tye Hastings and sent a far-post shot into the SPU goal at 34:36.

That was the 41st career goal for Bardsley, tying the Vikings school record.

WWU goalkeeper Leo Cohen stopped four shots en route to his fourth shutout.

SPU was blanked for the first time in 14 games, since a season-opening stretch of three straight shutouts. The Falcons had averaged over three goals per game in their last six outings.

Senior Kaleb Kuehn (Marysville, Wash./Marysville-Pilchuck HS) was credited with three saves for the Falcons, who were outshot by a slim 16-14 margin.

Seattle Pacific now must wait on the decision of the NCAA Division II Tournament committee. The 32-team men's soccer field will be announced on Monday at 4 p.m. via a live webcast on www.NCAA.com.

“We felt like winning would have given us a great shot at getting in, but I'm not really sure what this loss does,” Collings said. “The schedule we played was as tough as anybody's played in the country, but I'm not sure that's enough our not. Certainly a win would have made our case a little better.”


NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010
Orca Field/Bellingham, Wash.

Western Washington 2, Seattle Pacific 0

Scoring -- 1, WWU, Tyler Bjork (Jin Dangvan), 0:38. 2, WWU, Gibson Bardsley (Tye Hastings), 34:36.

Shots – SPU 14, WWU 16.
Saves – SPU 3 (Kaleb Kuehn), WWU 4 (Leo Cohen).
Corners – SPU 4, WWU 2.
Fouls – SPU 12, WWU 14.
Offsides – SPU 0, WWU 1.
Cautions – SPU 1 (Elliot Morton), WWU 0.
Ejections – None.
Attendance – 474.

Records –
Seattle Pacific 10-6-2, 7-2-1 GNAC
Western Washington 10-6-2, 5-4-1 GNAC