* Boxscore & Play-by-Play

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Tyler Schultz converted a penalty kick in the 85th minute Wednesday, lifting Seattle Pacific to its sixth straight men's soccer win with a 1-0 decision against Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Western Washington at Orca Field.

The second-place Falcons (6-1-1) improved to 3-0 in league play with an encounter at first-place Simon Fraser set for Saturday at 7 p.m. in Burnaby, B.C. The undefeated Clan (8-0), who are ranked No. 5 nationally, own a 4-0 GNAC record.

“Each time we take a step forward the next step gets a little bigger,” said SPU coach Mark Collings. “Definitely we have a big chore ahead of us Saturday night and we'll do everything we can to be ready for it.”

The SPU men set up Saturday's clash of the GNAC's lone undefeated sides by controlling the run of play on Wednesday. They doubled Western's shot total at 20-10, including an 11-4 first-half advantage.

None of those shots found the net until 84:13 when Sean Russell (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS) dribbled into the box and was 12 yards from goal when his flick drew a hand ball from Vikings defender Pat Cole.

Schultz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) directed the ensuing penalty shot low and into the right side of the net for his team-leading seventh goal. The senior forward, who Monday was named the GNAC Player of the Week, tallied five goals in his last three outings.

Prior to the goal, the Falcons closest scoring opportunity came during the 36th minute. Blaine Carver's (Soldotna, AK) header was deflected by WWU goalkeeper Keegan Rogers, who dove to make the save. Richie Evoy (Bend, Ore.) followed with a hard volley that got past Rogers, but was cleared off the line by a defender.

Despite being held scoreless for the opening 84 minutes, Collings was impressed that his team did not panic.

“We had some great chances and we felt like we were putting them under some pressure. We never thought we weren't going to go up and get a goal. We just tried to continue to do what we'd been doing all night and hoping that one of the opportunities we created was going to go.”

Rogers was credited with three saves for the Vikings (3-4), whose conference record evened at 2-2.

Junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) stopped two WWU shots en route to his fourth shutout. The Falcons have not surrendered a goal in conference play.

Johnson's best save helped set up SPU's scoring situation. He dove to deny a 10-yard shot by Jin Dangvan in the 84th minute. The Falcons subsequent counter attack featured Russell's foray into the box that produced the penalty kick.

“To get a conference win on the road is really important for us,” Collings concluded. “Any time you go on the road it's difficult to win, especially coming up here to Bellingham. With school starting this week and injuries, there's been a lot of distractions and I really like the focus of our team right now.”


NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011
Orca Field/Bellingham, Wash.

Seattle Pacific 1, at Western Washington 0

Scoring – 1, SPU, Tyler Schultz (PK), 84:13.

Shots – SPU 20, WWU 10.
Saves – SPU 2 (Zach Johnson), WWU 4 (Keegan Rogers 3).
Corner kicks – SPU 4, WWU 3.
Fouls – SPU 20, WWU 19.
Offside – SPU 2, WWU 2.

Records
Seattle Pacific 6-1-1,  3-0-0 GNAC
Western Washington 3-4-0,  2-2-0 GNAC

Next Game
Seattle Pacific at (#5) Simon Fraser
Saturday, Oct. 1; Burnaby, B.C., 7:00 p.m.