• Final Stats & Play-by-Play

SEATTLE – Their dominance at home was on display again Friday. Now the Falcons set out to show their worth on the road.

Junior forward Brandi Hamre scored two goals, and newcomer Kendall Thoreson tallied one as 17th-ranked Seattle Pacific opened its 10th season of women's soccer with a 3-0 non-conference victory over Humboldt State at Interbay Stadium.

Senior goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview HS) picked up the shutout as the Falcons (1-0-0) ran their home unbeaten streak to 44 games (41-0-3), dating back to September 2006. SPU also remained undefeated in all-time home openers (9-0-1).

The Falcons now embark on a three-game road trip in Honolulu, Hawaii, beginning Monday, Sept. 6 against Hawaii-Hilo. They will clash with BYU-Hawaii on Sept. 8 and Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 11 before returning home for their Sept. 16 Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener against Montana State Billings.

The three-game swing through Hawaii is critical as those are the Falcons final meetings with non-conference opponents.

“Hopefully Hawaii is a paradise as far as how we play as well,” Coach Chuck Sekyra said before the season. He is in his eighth season as head coach and directed the Falcons into the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of his previous seven seasons, including the 2008 national championship.




SPU started the season strong, getting on the board at 11:01 mark when sophomore forward Megan Lindsay (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep HS) tapped the ball back to junior forward Hamre (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) just outside the penalty area to the left of the restraining arc. Hamre's shot rolled into the back left corner.

“We came out ready to win and start our season out right,” Hamre describes. “We've been improving and just working on taking it one game at a time. I think we took a good step in that direction today with three goals and a shutout.”

Sophomore midfielder Thoreson (Seattle, Wash./King's HS) doubled the lead to 2-0 at 56:17 when she unloaded a 30-yard shot from straight in front and watched it fly into the upper right corner of the net well beyond the reach of Lumberjacks goalkeeper Kelly Sandberg. Thoreson is a sophomore forward who transferred to SPU after playing last season at Northwestern.

Hamre's second goal came on a shot from just outside the box, as she drove it into the upper left corner at 65:37. That already puts her halfway to her 2009 total of four goals.

“I definitely thought that our goals were of quality, some great finishes. Brandi Hamre, both of her shots were rockets,” Sekyra says. “Nice to keep a clean slate and get a shutout.”

Dickinson was called upon for just one save in order to blank the Lumberjacks. She had nine shutouts in 2009, and now has 20 for her Falcons career. That figure ranks third among all-time SPU netminders. Dickinson needs five shutouts to match the school record of 25 established by Jennifer Hull from 2001–2004.


NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.

(#17) Seattle Pacific 3, Humboldt State 0

Scoring – 1, SPU: Brandi Hamre (Megan Lindsay), 9:01; 2, SPU: Kendall Thoreson, 56:17; 3, SPU: Hamre, 65:37.

Shots – HSU 6, SPU 13.
Saves – HSU 5 (Kelly Sandberg), SPU 1 (Maddie Dickinson).
Corner kicks – HSU 2, SPU 5.
Fouls – HSU 9, SPU 8.
Offsides – HSU 0, SPU 1.
?Attendance – 321.

Records
Seattle Pacific 1-0-0, Humboldt State 0-1-0.

Next game
(#17) Seattle Pacific vs. Hawaii Hilo (at Honolulu), Sept. 6, 7:15 p.m. PDT