Box Score    |    Final Stats    |    VIDEO: Jordan  Kollars

SEATTLE – Michael Cole and Moises Peralta each scored a first-half goal Saturday for 18th-ranked Fort Hays State, which held on to defeat the Seattle Pacific men 2-1 in a non-conference soccer game at Interbay Stadium.
 
The Falcons finished the non-league portion of their schedule with a 2-2-1 record. They lost despite leading the shot count by a convincing 19-9 margin, including a 9-1 second-half advantage.
 
Fort Hays goalkeeper Michael Yantz was credited with nine saves, several of them diving stops of dangerous chances.
 
"Their goalkeeper made some big saves," said SPU coach Mark Collings. "I thought a couple were going to squirt underneath him. We also had Carlos (Franco) hit a free kick off the crossbar and Gabe (Kellum) hit the post. It's soccer, unfortunately.


 
The Tigers (3-2-1) initiated the scoring 8:47 into the game on Cole's first goal of the season. Maurizio Costa dribbled down the right flank before sending a low pass across the goalmouth that Cole tapped in from three yards out.
 
SPU pressured the visitors and at one point reeled off three successive shots from inside the box, in the 31st minute. The first two attempts were deflected by Yantz and the third was blocked by a defender.
 
Four minutes later, Falcons forward Gabe Kellum drilled a 16-yard shot across the goal that caromed hard off the right post and back into play.
 
Fort Hays added to its lead, scoring on a counter-attack at 38:38. A long ball into the box was headed out by an SPU defender directly to Peralta, who netted his first goal of the year. He gained control and lofted a 25-yard shot that carried into the upper right corner despite SPU goalkeeper Cody Lang diving to get a hand on the ball.
 
Lang (Spokane, Wash./Lewis & Clark HS) stopped two shots during the game.
 
"Fort Hays worked extremely hard. They took their chances well," Collings said. "They had once chance in the second half and in the first half, in addition to the two they scored, maybe one other. They finished two of them."
 
The Falcons controlled the run of play after halftime and had several near-misses. They finally found the back of the net at 70:41 to draw within 2-1.
 
Jordan Kollars served a free kick into the box that Stephen MacDonald quickly controlled before scoring to the left side on a 10-yard shot.
 
Kollars (Central Kitsap HS) was credited with assists on five of SPU's 13 goals this season, already surpassing last year's total of three.
 
"He's such a good passer. Jordan can really strike a ball well and put different kinds of spin on it," Collings described. "He controls his pace really well so it makes it easier for the guy receiving it to do something with it. He has great vision, he's always got his head up and he's able to pick spots out.
 
"Tonight he hit a good ball and Stephen was alert and able to put it away."
 
The hosts nearly equalized in the 75th minute on a hard drive by Jess Cayetano that was snagged by Yantz with a dive to his right.
 
SPU's last gasp came on a attempt by Carlos Franco with 3:18 left to play, but Yantz snuffed that effort. Franco (Goodyear, Ariz.) was stymied on an earlier try as his 65th-minute free kick nicked off the crossbar and over the goal.

 

In addition to his scoring play, MacDonald had three additional shots on goal. Two required diving stops from Yantz. The other was a low boot from a sharp left angle that traveled across the goalmouth and just wide of the right post in the 50th minute.
 
MacDonald did manage his team-leading seventh goal of the season and six of them came during the last three games.
 
The senior forward accounted for each of the Falcons last five goals.
 
"Stephen's on quite a tear. He probably could have had at least one more tonight," Collings said. "He's a handful. He gets himself in good spots and we're finding him.
 
"His finishing has really, really improved. He's been able to get himself in spots the past couple years, but now he's able to have a little bit more to his end product as far as getting shots on goal."
 
The SPU men open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on the road next week. They visit sixth-ranked Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.
 
"We're certainly not starting with an easy one, going up to Simon Fraser who looks to be very good this year," Collings said. "We'll get ourselves sorted out and give it good shot on Thursday night."
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.
 
(#18) Fort Hays State 2, at Seattle Pacific 1
 
                     1   2  -- TOTAL
Fort Hays State      2   0  --   2
Seattle Pacific      0   1  --   1
 
Scoring – 1, FHSU, Michael Cole (Maurizio Costa), 8:47; 2, FHSU, Moises Peralta, 38:38; 3, SPU, Stephen MacDonald (Jordan Kollars), 70:41.
 
Shots – FHSU 9, SPU 19.
Saves – FHSU 9 (Michael Yantz), SPU 2 (Cody Lang).
Corner Kicks – FHSU 4, SPU 7.
Fouls – FHSU 21, SPU 5.
Offsides – FHSU 3, SPU 0.
 
Records
Fort Hays State 3-2-1
Seattle Pacific 2-2-1
 
Next SPU Men's Game
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Thursday, Sept. 22, 7:00 p.m.
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C.