• Final Stats   |   • VIDEO: Maddie  Sjothun

SEATTLE – Kasey Reeve tallied her fourth game-winning goal of the season for Seattle Pacific, scoring early in the second half of Saturday's 1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer victory over Northwest Nazarene at Interbay Stadium.
 
The Falcons (5-2-0) posted their third consecutive win, all of them conference contests, to share first place with Western Washington. They both sport 3-0 GNAC ledgers.
 
"It was a good win. I'm proud of our kids," said third-year SPU coach Arby Busey. "It was a tough game, a typical Saturday game where your legs are a little bit heavier than they are on Thursday for both teams in the early stages. Both teams grew into the game. That was an extremely difficult game and one that we're glad to have over and glad to get the results."
 
NNU (5-2-0) suffered its first league setback, falling to 2-1.
 
The teams battled through a scoreless first half despite an 8-4 shot advantage for the Falcons. That deadlock was broken less than four minutes into the second half when they capitalized on a corner kick from Maddie Sjothun (Vancouver, Wash./Union HS).
 
"Maddie's a kid that we try to get forward and we try to get that left foot involved in the game because she is very, very good with it and can drop the ball right where she wants it," said Busey. "She played in a great ball on the corner and we were able to put it in the back of the net tonight. It's great for her to get paid off on her service."


 
Sjothun delivered a right side corner kick into the penalty spot. Reeve got a head to it from 14 yards out, sending a looping shot that carried just out of the reach of the goalkeeper and into the goal at 48:42. That was the team-leading fifth score of the season for the junior forward.
 
Reeve (Fountain Valley, Calif.) has compiled four of the team's five game-winning strikes this season.
 
"Kasey is a natural finisher who is at her best in and around the goal," Busey described. "She just has that sixth sense that a lot of the great forwards do in terms of where to put herself, how to position her body and where to put the ball where the goalkeeper can't get it.
 
"She's come up in some very opportune moments for us this year and it's been great. We've been relying on her and it would be nice to have some other guys start to be able to do that same thing, but I know we can count on Kasey to get it done because she's done it all year long so far."
 
The Crusaders nearly got the equalizer with 13 seconds left in regulation. Olivia Carter sent a 40-yard free kick into the right side of the box and it fell to the feet of Cassandra Clarke, but her subsequent shot traveled across the goalmouth and barely wide of the left post.
 
Senior goalkeeper Molly Stinson (Woodinville HS) made two saves en route to the 17th shutout of her career. It was the first clean sheet of the year for the Falcons.
 
"The shutout is great and gives our kids a lot of confidence. It's something that we hadn't done yet this year, something that they've been working really hard to try to do," said Busey. "Against a team that had scored a ton of goals coming in, it feels good to finally get a shutout. It gives us some defending confidence moving forward."
 
The SPU women hit the road for their next four games, beginning on Thursday in Portland. They take on Concordia at 7 p.m.
 
"We've done this before earlier this season when we had four games on the road," Busey said. "This one will be every bit as difficult as that one was. The games aren't packed into as tight a window as the last time, but these are opponents that know us.
 
"We'll have our hands full next week down in Oregon against teams that are familiar with us, familiar with our style, familiar with our personnel. It's going to be a challenge to go on the road in our conference and to get results. Certainly starting on Thursday with Concordia, a very well coached team, very talented team and on their field they are very good so we'll have our work cut out for us."
 
The next home game for the Falcons is Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. against Central Washington.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 1, Northwest Nazarene 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Kasey Reeve (Maddie Sjothun), 48:42.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Northwest Nazarene     0   0  --    0
Seattle Pacific        0   1  --    1
 
Shots – NNU 6, SPU 13.
Saves – NNU 3 (Daniele Ortiz), SPU 2 (Molly Stinson).
Corner kicks – NNU 1, SPU 8.
Fouls – NNU 9, SPU 15.
Offsides – NNU 0, SPU 3.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 5-2-0, 3-0-0 GNAC
Northwest Nazarene 5-3-0, 2-1-0 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Concordia (Ore.)
Thursday, Sept. 28, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Tuominen Yard / Portland, Ore.