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     • VIDEO: Senior Ceremony   |   • VIDEO: Drew  Williams

SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific's six seniors were honored Saturday with a ceremony before their final regular-season men's soccer game. The received meaningful mementos and hearty applause from the Interbay Stadium crowd.

But their greatest gift will come Monday.

Tyler Schultz scored in the eighth minute with his league-leading 15th goal, leading 23rd-ranked SPU to a 1-0 victory over Saint Martin's.

Saturday may not be the final Interbay Stadium appearance of the year for the Falcons. They were listed No. 1 in this week's West Region rankings and will host two rounds of NCAA Division II Tournament games if they remain the top seed.

The 32-team playoff field will be announced on Monday at 4 p.m. and five-time national champion SPU seeks its first invitation since 2006. The first round of the four-team regional begins on Thursday.



"In my four years we haven't been to the tournament at all. So to go my senior year is really great," exclaimed senior midfielder Drew Williams. "I really don't know what to expect since we haven't been there yet. But if we get home field advantage, which we think we will, that will be amazing."

Schultz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) received a pass from Blaine Carver inside the box and slipped a 10-yard shot into the lower right of the Saints goal at 7:38. That was the eighth game-winning goal this season for the senior midfielder and the 15th of his career.

"When you need someone to put the ball away he's the guy, he's the goal scorer," Williams said of his senior-class mate Schultz. "He's worked so hard this whole season, his whole career. And his work pays off with goals.

"It's nice to have a guy like that, that can bail you out of games sometimes and put the ball in the back of the net."

Schultz nearly scored an earlier goal, but his hard, fourth-minute shot to the left post was cleared off the goal line by SMU defender James Schmid.

Falcons junior Zach Johnson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) stopped two shots to preserve his 11th shutout.

“It really helped to come out strong and get that early goal," said Williams. "We took our foot off the pedal a little bit, made it a little difficult on ourselves, but we got that early goal and got the win so we're happy."

The Falcons (13-3-2) registered their most victories in six seasons, since the 2005 squad posted 15 wins. They finished second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 7-2-1 mark.

JJ Olson made four saves for SMU (5-11-2, 4-5-1 GNAC), which was outshot 20-6.

Two of those Saints shots came in the 89th minute, off the feet of Xan Nixon and Brandon Scott. Both shots were well wide and then SPU successfully ran out the clock.



 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.
 
at #23 Seattle Pacific 1, Saint Martin's 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Tyler Schultz (Caleb Nyone, Blaine Carver), 7:38.
 
Shots – SMU 6, SPU 20.
Saves – SMU 5 (JJ Olson 4, Team 1), SPU 2 (Zach Johnson).
Corner kicks – SMU 2, SPU 5.
Fouls – SMU 7, SPU 5.
Offsides – SMU 1, SPU 0.
Ejections – None.
Attendance – 571.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 13-3-2,  7-2-1 GNAC
Saint Martin's 5-11-2,  4-5-1 GNAC
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at NCAA Tournament
Thursday, Nov. 3, site TBA