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     • VIDEO: Ryan Brand

SEATTLE – Oscar Yinguez scored midway through the first half, then assisted on Hunter Le Blanc's goal late in the game, leading Notre Dame de Namur to a 3-1 non-conference men's soccer victory against Seattle Pacific on Thursday night at Interbay Stadium.

The Falcons (0-1-1) got onto the board for the first time this season when senior forward Ryan Brand (Portland, Ore.) tapped one in through traffic in front of the left post late in the 84th minute.

That tally stopped a 194-minute goal drought that started the SPU season.

"A goal is a goal. It's not pretty, but it will hopefully get things rolling," Brand said.

The Falcons were not without their chances earlier in the contest. Brand had two of them, just 90 seconds apart midway through the first half. One came from the left side of the 6-yard box, a shot that scurried across the goalmouth barely wide right early in the 23rd minute.

Then late in the 24th, Brand went fast down the right wing, took the ball just inside the top corner of the box and ripped a shot that bounced off the crossbar. The rebound came out to junior midfielder Richie Evoy (Bend, Ore.), but he never got a chance to shoot as he went down in a collision with an Argonauts defender, and play was allowed to continue.

"We had some good opportunities to potentially change the game early on and we didn't," said Brand.



Notre Dame de Namur of Belmont, Calif. (2-1) won its second straight game, including Tuesday's impressive 4-0 win at Sonoma State.

Yinguez put the Argonauts on the board at 24:36 when he took a short pass from Christian Rosales and let fly with a 25-yard shot from straight in front of the net, sending the ball into the back left corner.

Cristobal Montes made it 2-0 at 62:50. Jesus Gonzalez sent a cross into the penalty area from the left side near the goal line, and Montes ran onto it at the far post to redirect it into the back left corner for his team-leading third goal of the year.

Yinguez then sent a short through ball to Le Blanc, who steamed down the left side of the field and launched a shot from 25 yards away that went all the way across the box and into the upper right side at 74:56.

Junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) was credited with five saves for the Falcons and his NDNU counterpart Jay Tsurouka had four. Both teams attempted 13 shots.
 
SPU plays host to Metro State on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 at Interbay.

"We'll come out ready to play because we know Metro is a good team and they'll be ready to play," Brand projected. "We need to step up our game a little bit more."

The last two meetings ended with drastically divergent results.

Last season Metro blanked the Falcons 3-0 in Denver. In 2009, on the Roadrunners last visit to Seattle, they were dealt a 4-1 defeat.


NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.

Notre Dame de Namur 3, Seattle Pacific 1

Scoring – 1, NDNU: Oscar Yinguez (Christian Rosales), 24:46; 2, NDNU: Cristobal Montes (Arturo Gomez, Jesus Gonzalez), 62:50; 3, NDNU: Hunter Le Blanc (Yinguez), 74:56; 4, SPU: Ryan Brand (unassisted), 83:44.

Shots – NDND 13, SPU 13.
Saves – NDNU 4 (Jay Tsurouka), SPU 5 (Zach Johnson).
Corner kicks – NDNU 4, SPU 1.
Fouls – NDNU 13, SPU 15.
Offsides – NDNU 3, SPU 0.
Cautions – NDNU: Rosales 66:21; Henry Dominic Sroka 79:17; Mikhail Wingate-Pearce 86:52. SPU: Evan Robicheau 76:03.
Ejections – None.
Attendance – 286.

Records --
Seattle Pacific 0-1-1.
Notre Dame de Namur 2-1-0.

Next game –
Metro State at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Interbay Stadium, 4:30 p.m.