• FINAL STATS   |   • VIDEO: Ed  Weise
• PHOTO GALLERY

SEATTLE – Travis Grant scored for the fifth consecutive game, netting the game-winner in the 72nd minute of Thursday's 4-2 Seattle Pacific men's soccer victory over Western Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Interbay Stadium.
 
The sophomore forward curved a wonderful 22-yard strike into the upper left corner to provide a 3-2 lead SPU would not relinquish. That was the team-leading eighth goal for Grant and his sixth in the last five outings.
 
Ed Weise and Travis Swallow each scored inside the opening seven minutes for SPU, which saw the visitors rally to level the score 2-2. Jake Ferry followed Grant's go-ahead score with an insurance goal with 10 minutes remaining.
 
"The guys that have come through for us came through again," said SPU coach Mark Collings "Titus, when he gets going it's fun to watch. His tremendous finish just lifted us, changed the momentum of the game again.
 
"Then Jake came in and did what he does best, using his pace before a really good finish. All in all, I'm really pleased with the effort tonight."
 
The Falcons (7-6-0) evened their conference record at 3-3-0 while Western (6-5-1) fell to 2-3-1.
 
WWU registered a slim 15-12 overall shot advantage, but the hosts were more accurate as eight of their attempts were directly on frame to just four for the Vikings.
 
Red-shirt freshman Lars Helleren improved his personal record in goal to 6-4-0, making two saves in the process. Western goalkeeper Brandon Wolter stopped four shots.
 

The Falcons capitalized on a series of early corner kicks for a quick score to start the contest. The first two corners were immediately sent back over the end line by WWU defenders. The third, served from the left corner by Trevor Lee, found freshman Weise at the far post. Weise firmly headed the ball from five yards out at 2:01 for his first collegiate goal.
 
Swallow doubled that lead less than five minutes later on a 20-yard blast to the top left. SPU's Reid Baez delivered a pass to Nik Reierson, who dribbled into the offensive half down the right flank before slipping a pass to Swallow in the center for the shot from just outside the box at 6:39.
 
Those were the only two first-half shots generated by the Falcons.
 
Western's Christian Rotter trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 16:32. He reached a long, lofted ball from Georg Cholewa in the left side of the box, initially controlling the ball with a header. His subsequent short boot trickled toward the goal and SPU defender Alex Mejia's desperate clearance attempt caromed off Rotter and back into the goal.
 
"We certainly don't make things easy on ourselves," Collings exclaimed. "Obviously I loved the way we came out and got two quick goals. But in a game like this with a team that has the mentality they do and they are well coached, you have to expect you're going to take a little bit from them.
 
"Unfortunately, we gave up what we would characterize as a bad goal. Good effort on their part, but poor defensive work on our part."
 
That 2-1 score held into halftime as SPU led despite trailing the shot count by a 4-2 margin.
 
Taylor Allen headed in the equalizer for the Vikings at 63:47. Cholewa was credited with an assist on the play as his firm header bounded off the crossbar to Allen, who nodded a five-yard, put-back shot into the open goal.
 
"We felt pretty comfortable coming out in the second half. We put some pressure on their goal and maybe could have had one," Collings described. "Then they get the second goal. Again, we just continue to make mistakes and they punished us for it again. Fortunately, the growth of our team showed a little bit tonight and we kept battling."

 

Grant's game-winner came at 71:48. Swallow gained control of the ball at midfield and quickly directed a low pass to his teammate streaking into the offensive half on the right side. Grant dribbled toward the box and cut back to his left before bending the ball into the top left corner.
 
WWU's Stephen Jinneman had a great opportunity to level the score in the 80th minute, but his volley attempt from close range at the left post sailed over the crossbar.
 
Ferry secured the win at 80:05 with his third goal of the year. Aidan Chaparro and Sam Rucklos combined on passes that fed the red-shirt freshman forward sprinting into the left side of the Western box. Ferry stopped 10 yards from goal and, from a sharp angle, slipped a shot with with his right foot that carried across the goalmouth and inside the right post.
 
The current five-game goal streak by Grant is making Collings wonder what might have happened if his scoring leader hadn't missed a pair of games earlier this season. Grant did not play Sept. 1 at Sonoma State nor Sept. 22 at Concordia (Ore.), missing both of the 2-1 overtime setbacks.
 
"You look at our season, the two games Titus didn't play we lost both of them in overtime. Whether he makes a difference or not in those you don't know, but certainly with the form he's in you would think he would have made a difference.
 
"He is someone people have to deal with and when he's going it opens up things for other people. That's what makes him such a valuable part of our team."
 
The Falcons remain home to host Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at 7 p.m. That is the nightcap of a soccer doubleheader with the SPU women, who play Western Oregon at 4 p.m.
 
"They're coming off a bye so they're well rested. We just put a lot of energy out for 90 minutes against a really good Western Washington team while they were sitting at home relaxing," Collings said of Northwest Nazarene. "So we've got to find a way to get ourselves fresh again and come out and bring the same kind of intensity that we brought tonight.
 
"In College soccer it's really hard to get up for two games in 48 hours. So that will be our biggest focus over the next day and a half. Of course we need to look at what happened last time and see if we can execute at a little higher level."
 
The Nighthawks won this season's first meeting 2-0 on Sept. 20 in Nampa, Idaho in the GNAC opener for both teams.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 4, Western Washington 2
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Ed Weise (Trevor Lee), 2:01; 2, SPU, Travis Swallow (Nik Reierson, Reid Baez), 6:39; 3, WWU, Christian Rotter (unassisted), 16:32; 4, WWU, Taylor Allen (Georg Cholewa), 63:47; 5, SPU, Titus Grant (Swallow), 71:48; 6, SPU, Jake Ferry (Sam Rucklos, Aidan Chaparro), 80:05.
 
                          1   2  --  TOTAL
Western Washington        1   1  --    2
Seattle Pacific           2   2  --    4
 
Shots – WWU 15, SPU 12.
Shots on Goal – WWU 4, SPU 8.
Saves – WWU 4 (Brandon Wolter), SPU 2 (Lars Helleren).
Corner kicks – WWU 4, SPU 5.
Fouls – WWU 15, SPU 14.
Offsides – WWU 1, SPU 1.
 
Records
Western Washington 6-5-1,  2-3-1 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 7-6-0,  3-3-0 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Oct. 13, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.