Box Score    |     Final Stats     |     VIDEO: Jordan  Kollars

SEATTLE – The Falcons again rose to the occasion, soaring to the best start in school history on the wings of Saturday's significant victory.
 
Bryson Pavel scored on an 82nd-minute header, lifting sixth-ranked SPU to a 1-0 victory over No. 22 Northwest Nazarene in a battle of the top men's soccer teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
The Falcons (10-0-1) secured the longest undefeated start in the 47-year history of the program that includes five NCAA Division II championship teams. The record for sustained unbeaten streak to begin a season was previously held by the 1975 SPU team that started 6-0-4 before losing in its 11th outing.
 
"Any time you talk about breaking a record in this program it says a lot. But most importantly I'm excited that we have 10 wins on the year and we just made another big step towards where we want to go, and that's the postseason," said SPU coach Mark Collings, a four-year Falcons letterman and captain of the 1998 Final Four squad.
 
"We really haven't talked about the records at all. It's definitely nice and we'll enjoy it maybe in January when we can look back on the season. But right now we are in the moment and trying to get ready for the next game."
 
The SPU men are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak that started after a 1-1 double-overtime tie at Chico State on Sept. 6 put the only blemish on their record.
 
They are now in sole possession of first place with a 7-0-0 league ledger.
 
NNU (9-2-0) entered the game tied atop the GNAC standings, but fell into second place after the first conference defeat dropped their record to 6-1-0.
 


SPU capitalized on a free kick from 35 yards out on the right side for its decisive goal. Sophomore Jordan Kollars (Silverdale, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) served the ball into the center of the box where Pavel (Boise, Idaho) rose to flick it into the upper left corner at 81:13.
 
"What a ball and what a header! I saw Jordan Kollars basically throw an alley-oop and then Bryson Pavel jumped as high as I've ever seen him jump to flick it over," Collings described. "There was a little extra motivation for Bryson, playing the team from near his hometown. He was excited for tonight's match."
 
The Falcons defense did the rest, denying four NNU shots during the final seven minutes. The Crusaders last chance came with 24 seconds remaining when Rene Duevel broke free on the left side of the box, but his hard shot went just wide of the left post.

 

Sophomore goalkeeper Cody Lang (Spokane, Wash./Lewis & Clark HS) was credited with two saves for the Falcons en route to his sixth shutout.
 
Alfredo Ontiveros made seven saves for Nazarene, which was outshot 17-11 by the hosts.
 
The game-winner was the second goal of the season for Pavel, a junior defender. He has netted six goals during his collegiate career.
 
The Falcons had a goal disallowed by an offside flag in the 76th minute. Kollars slammed in a rebound after Stephen MacDonald's hard shot was deflected by the goalkeeper.
 
A frenetic, end-to-end pace did not produce any goals in the first half. The Falcons compiled a 9-4 shot advantage during the opening 45 minutes.
 
NNU had a dangerous early opportunity with a two-on-one break in the fourth minute, but Duevel's 15-yard shot went directly at goalkeeper Lang.
 
"What a great college soccer game for the fans and everybody to watch. NNU is very good," said Collings. "We played maybe our best 90 minutes of the year. We were really solid defensively, we moved he ball really well and we generated a lot of great opportunities on goal today. I'm really, really happy with how we played tonight against a very good opponent."
 
SPU had three good first-half chances. Kollars sent an open 20-yard shot wide right of the goal in the eighth minute and MacDonald followed a minute later with a low shot that forced NNU Ontiveros to make a diving save at the left post.

In the 23rd minute, Sean Russell fooled Ontiveros with a low shot to the left from just inside the box. The Crusaders 'keeper dove to opposite direction, but was still able to deflect the shot with his legs.
 
The SPU men play a pair of road games next week against their Northwest rivals. They clash with four-time defending GNAC champion Simon Fraser on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Burnaby, B.C. before visiting Western Washington's new Harrington Field on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Bellingham.

 

"We're going to have to play really well on Thursday to deal with Simon Fraser," Collings said. "Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser are the two most potent attacking teams we've played. It's brought out the best in our defensive shape. So we'll need another big effort from our defensive unit and we need to put a lot of pressure on them and then we're going to need to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net."
 
Collings cautions that future opponents will definitely be aware of SPU's winning streak.
 
"As I told the guys, 'The good thing about when you win is -- you're winning. The bad thing is that the target on you gets a little bigger each time.'"
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at (#6) Seattle Pacific 1, (#22) Northwest Nazarene 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Bryson Pavel (Jordan Kollars), 81:13.
 
Shots – NNU 11, SPU 17.
Saves – NNU 7 (Alfredo Ontiveros), SPU 2 (Cody Lang).
Corner Kicks – NNU 3, SPU 4.
Fouls – NNU 15, SPU 15.
Offsides – NNU 1, SPU 1.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 10-0-1, 7-0-0 GNAC
Northwest Nazarene 9-2-0, 6-1-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Game
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Thursday, Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m. PDT
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C.