Box Score    |    Final Stats    |    VIDEO: Stephen  MacDonald

SEATTLE – Stephen MacDonald is healthy and that's good news for the Falcons. It was bad news for their two opponents this week.
 
MacDonald accounted for all of Seattle Pacific's scoring Saturday, registering his second career hat trick to lead a 3-1 non-conference men's soccer victory over Metro State at Interbay Stadium.
 
The Falcons (2-1-1) posted consecutive home wins, including Thursday's 6-1 decision over Colorado Christian in which MacDonald (Phoenix, Ariz.) struck twice.
 
The senior forward leads SPU with six goals, a season after injuries limited him to just two goals and eight games. His previous three-goal outburst came on Oct. 23, 2014 against South Dakota Mines.


 
"It's nice to have him healthy. We were unfortunate last year with all of the injuries up top," said ninth-year SPU coach Mark Collings.
 
"The story of the night was Stephen with three goals. He was very, very good with three goals and maybe should have had fourth. Good for him to pick us up on a night where we weren't at our best."
 
MacDonald (Phoenix, Ariz.) started the scoring 2:22 into the contest after receiving a quick free kick pass from Jordan Kollars that broke him loose into the right side of the box. MacDonald found the left side of the goal with a low, seven-yard boot.
 
The opening score was made possible when the Falcons' Gabe Kellum was fouled just outside the box by Metro's Dylan Wood.
 
A foul on the other end created the equalizer. Dimitri Ney broke free in the SPU box and was taken down by a defender. Josh Belfrage deposited the ensuing free kick into the goal to level the score, 1-1.
 
MacDonald forged another Falcons lead at 33:50 with a rapid put-back after Metro's Rus Hayden deflected an attempt a second earlier. Mori Tsuchiya hammered a shot from inside that box that rebounded off the goalkeeper to MacDonald for an eight-yard follow-up finish.
 
The Roadrunners (2-2-0) compiled an 11-9 edge in the shot count, forcing SPU goalkeeper Cody Lang (Spokane, Wash./Lewis & Clark HS) to make four saves.
 
Metro State nearly evened the score again, but Luan Silva's hard shot from the left side of the box was snagged by Lang.
 
"It's a big win for us. It definitely was not our best soccer of the year, but you've got to win some games like that," Collings described. "Metro was good and they did some things tonight that asked some different questions of us. We adjusted alright at times and other times we didn't' handle it very well."
 
MacDonald netted an insurance goal at 86:17. He was fouled on a breakaway into the box and converted the subsequent penalty kick.
 
The Falcons are happy to have their high-scoring forward back in the lineup. He led the squad with nine goals and eight assists in 2014. In his absence, two players tied for the 2015 SPU lead with five goals, a figure MacDonald has already topped just four games into the 2016 campaign.
 
Coach Collings is forced to devise unusual terms to describe MacDonald's unique talents.
 
"He's awkwardly unpredictable, if that's even a phrase. Stephen's big and strong, that's always difficult. He's also just a little weird to defend. And then any time you have a striker who really wants to run at a defense that's going to be a problem because defenders don't like that.
 
"The biggest thing is he's learned how to combine with guys around him and it's really opened things up for himself. In his four years he's become a complete forward and we're benefitting from it now. "
 
Rus was credited with two saves for Metro State.
 
The SPU men play at home again next Saturday, Sept. 17, with a 7 p.m. clash against 20th-ranked Fort Hays State.
 
"I don't know anything about Fort Hays. I'm pretty excited to play a team from another region, and a top team at that," said Collings. "It will be a great test for us and will probably have an NCAA Tournament feel to it, which will be great. I'm excited and look forward to the challenge next Saturday."
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 3, Metro State 1
 
                     1   2  -- TOTAL
Metro State          1   0  --   1
Seattle Pacific      2   1  --   3
 
Scoring – 1, Stephen MacDonald (Jordan Kollars), 2:22. 2, MSU, Josh Belfrage (pk), 19:26; 3, MacDonald (Mori Tsuchiya), 33:50; 4, MacDonald (pk), 86:17.
 
Shots – MSU 11, SPU 9.
Saves – MSU 2 (Hayden Rus), SPU 4 (Cody Lang).
Corner Kicks – MSU 7, SPU 5.
Fouls – MSU 18, SPU 17.
Offsides – MSU 4, SPU 2.
 
Records
Metro State 2-2-0
Seattle Pacific 2-1-1
 
Next SPU Men's Game
Fort Hays State at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Sept. 17, 7:00 p.m.
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.