• FINAL STATS   |   • VIDEO: Emma  Young

SEATTLE – Seniors Mickayla Mury, Emma Young and Sydnee Smith each registered a goal and assist Saturday for the Seattle Pacific women, who defeated Western Oregon 6-1 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference soccer matchup at Interbay Stadium.
 
The Falcons' (9-4-1) league ledger improved to 5-3-0.
 
Kaytlin Willis netted SPU's first score on an 11th-minute penalty kick and Mury tallied the go-ahead goal in the 41st minute, breaking a 1-1 tie. Young scored in the 54th minute and then a trio of Falcons found the back of the net during the final eight minutes.
 
Claire Neder, Kasey Reeve and Smith accounted for those late goals.
 
"They finally came," SPU coach Arby Busey said of his team's bounty of goals. "It's one of those ones where we've been in and around the goal in a lot of games recently but weren't rewarded for it like today.
 
"We built a lot of good opportunities today. We had some in the first half that we didn't capitalize on and it seemed to be paying off in the second half when we couldn't miss."
 
Red-shirt freshman goalkeeper Riley Travis was credited with five saves for SPU, which out-shot the visitors by a 22-10 margin.
 
Goalkeeper Alex Qualls stopped one shot for the Wolves (5-7-2), who dropped to 3-5-1 in GNAC games.
 


Sophia Chilczuk was fouled in the top left side of the box by WOU's Kennedy Clay, earning a penalty kick. Senior defender Willis stepped to the 12-yard spot and drilled the free shot into the lower left corner at 10:57 for her first goal of the season and the third of her career.
 
SPU nearly added to its lead on a close-range attempt by Reeve, but WOU defender Jacky Beristain cleared the ball of the line near the right post to spoil the opportunity.
 
The Wolves leveled the score, 1-1, at 28:29. Kaitlin Poe threw the ball in to Kaili Brundage, whose pass found Hannah Cabral near the left post. Cabral took a touch before slipping an eight-yard shot from a sharp angle across the goalmouth and into the right side netting.
 
A brilliant display of quick passes from Young and Ava Giovanola set up what proved to be the game-winning goal. Their passing freed Mickayla Mury into the box for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. She slid a low shot to the left side form 10 yards out at 40:30 for her second goal of the year.
 
"Those are big. Those are momentum changers," Busey said of Mury's goal 4:30 before intermission.
 
"You've played a good first 25 minutes or so and they get a goal and it changes momentum. To snatch it back right before going in for halftime gives you a boost going into the second half."
 
Young doubled the lead, proving a 3-1 SPU advantage at 53:41.
 
Mury stole the ball deep in Wolves territory on the right flank. She dribbled toward the center before slotting a lateral pass to Young for a well-placed left-footed finish into the upper left corner from outside the box. That was Young's first goal and her second career tally.
 
"Emma Young's goal was great. It's great for her to get in there and impact the game," Busey exclaimed. "We see her do a lot of things in practice. She's got some special qualities about her. She sees the game really well, she can pass really well.
 
"But that one was a left-footed shot from a long way out and I don't know that any of us knew that she had that in her tool kit. It was really fun for Emma to get a really nice goal and that one was as much of a momentum changer as any of them in terms of being that third one to propel us forward."
 
Western Oregon's most dangerous second-half chance came in the 67th minute. Isabelle Creighton fired a close-range shot that Travis deflected with a reaction save.
 
Neder initiated the frenetic final eight minutes, receiving a pass from Chilczuk before sliding a nine-yard shot under the goalkeeper near the left post at 82:36.
 
Reeve scored less than one minute later, at 83:33, on a goal-line tap in off Julia DeVere's pass from the right endline.

 

Smith capped the scoring at 88:16 with a 25-yard looper that snuck under the crossbar despite Qualls elevating to get a touch on the ball. Passes from Mason Minder and Abbie Anderson preceded the final tally.
 
SPU utilized 22 players and half of them (11) played a part in the scoring with either a goal or assist.
 
"With the amount of energy that we had to expend on Thursday we needed to use everyone today," Busey said, referring to the 1-0 home loss against sixth-ranked Concordia (Ore.).
 
"It's a testament to the quality of the depth that we do have on the roster that we had players that haven't seen a ton of minutes come in and not only get minutes today but contribute and put themselves on the scoresheet."
 
The SPU women travel to Burnaby, B.C. for a clash with Simon Fraser on Thursday at 5 p.m. The Clan won this season's first meeting 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 27 in Seattle.
 
"They're a good team and they certainly solved us down here. It was a difficult game for us to play in and I'm sure they're going to make it difficult for us again up there," said Busey.
 
"They've been on great run of form lately and we're going to have a tough time up there. But with getting some goals today that will get our confidence going in terms of some of the things that we do on a pretty regular basis like creating chances. That's good news for us moving forward."
 
The Falcons final two home games are slated for next Saturday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. against Montana State Billings and Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. versus Central Washington.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 6, Western Oregon 1
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Kaytlin Willis (PK), 10:57; 2, WOU, Hannah Cabral (Kaili Brundage, Kaitlin Poe), 28:29; 3, SPU, Mickayla Mury (Ava Giovanola, Emma Young), 40:30; 4, SPU, Young (Mury), 53:41; 5, SPU, Claire Neder (Sophia Chilczuk), 82:36; 6, SPU, Kasey Reeve (Julia DeVere, Sydnee Smith), 83:33; 7, SPU, Sydnee Smith (Mason Minder, Abbie Anderson), 88:16.
 
                        1   2  --  TOTAL
Western Oregon          1   0  --    1
Seattle Pacific         2   4  --    6
 
Shots – WOU 10, SPU 22.
Shots on Goal – WOU 6, SPU 8
Saves – WOU 2 (Alex Qualls 1, Team 1), SPU 5 (Riley Travis).
Corner kicks – WOU 4, SPU 3.
Fouls – WOU 3, SPU 7.
Offsides – WOU 2, SPU 1.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 9-4-1,  5-3-0 GNAC
Western Oregon 5-7-2,  3-5-1 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Thursday, Oct. 18, 5:00 p.m. PDT
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C.