• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Senior Drew Williams converted a 24-yard free kick in the ninth minute Thursday and that goal held up for the Seattle Pacific men, who recorded a 1-0 non-conference victory over Cal Baptist in a neutral-site matchup at GCU Soccer Field.

The Falcons improved to 7-2-1 with their seventh win in the last eight outings. Cal Baptist lost for just the second time in eight games, dropping its record to 6-4.

A senior midfielder, Williams (Bend, Ore.) was fouled on the right side, six yards outside the box. Williams quickly rose and stepped up to take the subsequent kick.

"We let the guys decide. We work on set pieces in training and they have a good sense for who can hit them and who can't," SPU coach Mark Collings described about the process of selecting a taker for free kicks.

"We certainly don't want to force someone on the ball if maybe they aren't feeling it on that day. It's really a decision that's made on the field by a few guys."

The players' choice proved to be the correct one as Williams curved the free kick around the Lancers wall and into the right side of the goal at 8:49. That was his second goal of the season and the seventh of Williams' career.

Junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) ensured that SPU sustained the one-goal advantage by stopping three shots. He blanked his fifth opponent.

Johnson's only save in the first half was his best as he dove to his right to push away a dangerous 17th-minute attempt by Tyler Aagard.

"Zach came up very big for us and our defense was good," said Collings. "Cal Baptist is a very, very good soccer team that knocks the ball around extremely well. They caused us a lot of problems. Fortunately we were there to get on some loose balls and were able to clear some balls out.

"We were able to let the one goal stand up. I'm still not completely satisfied with where we are defensively, but it's hard to complain too much when you get a shutout."

Joey Pacheco registered all three of his saves in the second half for GCU. Both teams attempted nine shots for the game.

The Seattle Pacific men remain in Phoenix to play 16th-ranked Grand Canyon on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

"We're certainly going to have our hands full with Grand Canyon," Collings said. "We're going to do our best to recover tonight and hopefully tighten some things up in practice Friday. We'll come back Saturday and see what we can do."


NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, October 6, 2011
GCU Soccer Field/Phoenix, Ariz.

Seattle Pacific 1, Cal Baptist 0

Scoring – 1, SPU, Drew Williams, 8:49.

Shots – SPU 9, CBU 9.
Saves – SPU 3 (Zach Johnson), CBU 3 (Joey Pacheco).
Corner kicks – SPU 3, CBU 5.
Fouls – SPU 7, CBU 13.
Offside – SPU 1, CBU 6.
Ejections -- None.

Records
Seattle Pacific 7-2-1
Cal Baptist 6-4-0

Next Game
Seattle Pacific at (#16) Grand Canyon
Saturday, Oct. 8; Phoenix, Ariz., 7:30 p.m. PDT