Box Score      |    Final Stats

NAMPA, Idaho – Alex Mitrovic converted a penalty kick with 2:45 left in the final overtime Thursday, lifting Northwest Nazarene to a 1-0 men's soccer win over Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest at Finkbeiner Park.
 
Mitrovic booted the 12-yard free shot past SPU goalkeeper Cody Lang to end the game after 107-minutes, 15-seconds. The golden goal was his fourth score of the season.
 
The penalty kick was awarded after a Falcons defender was whistled for a hand ball after NNU served a corner kick into the box.
 
 "It was a tough result for us," said SPU coach Mark Collings. "We didn't play our best, we looked a little out of sync. But we certainly didn't deserve to lose the game tonight.
 
"That's the way it goes sometimes. They got a ball to bounce their way and that's kind of how our season has gone, unfortunately."
 
The Falcons (4-4-5) had their six-game unbeaten streak stopped, moving their league record to 2-2-4.
 
The Crusaders (7-3-3) maintained their second-place position and are now 4-1-2 in GNAC play. They battled SPU to a scoreless tie in this season's first meeting, on Oct. 1 in Seattle. Mitrovic's goal halted a streak of 237-minutes, 59-seconds without a goal between these teams.
 
Thursday marked the sixth time SPU has gone into overtime this season and the first time the outcome was not a draw.

 

SPU's most dangerous chance came eight minutes after halftime when Gabe Kellum's dribbling run brought him past the onrushing goalkeeper. His shot was cleared off the line by Crusaders defender Steven Garcia.
 
Another near miss for the Falcons came in the 55th minute when Stephen MacDonald sent a header from the center of the box wide right.
 
Both teams finished the game with 10 players. The Crusaders Linus Seino picked up his second yellow card with 5:31 left in regulation.
 
SPU's Jess Cayetano was sent to the sidelines after being shown a red card in the 93rd minute.
 
The Falcons were the aggressors after halftime, compiling a 17-8 shot lead during that span. That figure was at 24-19 for the entire game.
 
The teams battled to a deadlock in the first half despite an 11-6 shot advantage for the hosts. Cody Lang kept the Falcons in the game, amassing seven saves during the opening 45 minutes.
 
The senior goalkeeper made two late saves to preserve the tie. He dove to push a Linus Mansson free kick away from the right post in the 43rd minute and then sprawled to his left to gather a point-blank shot from Keon Jones 1:31 before halftime.
 
The Falcons directed three first-half shots on goal, two of them by Kellum. His 22nd- and 41st-minute efforts were saved by NNU's Ryan Foo.
 
Lang matched his season-high total with 10 saves while Foo stopped nine shots for the hosts.
 
"We just need to get back and figure out why we weren't able to do the things that we like to do, which is keep the ball on the ground and play a little bit," Collings said. "We have to make sure that we stop giving up so many set pieces because that was really their big way of putting pressure on our goal tonight."
 
The SPU men remain on the road to visit Montana State Billings on Saturday at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016
Finkbeiner Park / Nampa, Idaho
 
at Northwest Nazarene 1, Seattle Pacific 0 (2ot)
 
                      1   2  OT  OT   --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific       0   0   0   0   --    0
Northwest Nazarene    0   0   0   1   --    1
 
Scoring – 1, NNU, Alex Mitrovic (PK), 107:15.
 
Shots – SPU 24, NNU 19.
Saves – SPU 10 (Cody Lang), NNU 10 (Ryan Foo).
Corner Kicks – SPU 9, NNU 9.
Fouls -- SPU 21, NNU 15.
Offsides – SPU 6, NNU 1.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 4-4-5, 2-2-4 GNAC
Northwest Nazarene 7-3-3, 4-1-2 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Game
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
Saturday, October 22, 2:00 p.m. PDT
Yellowjacket Field / BIllings, Mont.