• FINAL STATS

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Seattle Pacific's Nik Reierson evened the score midway through the first half, but the Western Washington men responded with four unanswered goals Saturday to defeat the short-handed Falcons 5-1 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference soccer game at Harrington Field.
 
The Falcons (8-10-0) were dealt their fourth loss in a row and they dropped to 4-7-0 in league play.
 
Western (9-6-1) improved to 5-4-1 in GNAC games behind goals from Christian Rotter, Taylor Allen, Louis Genty, Georg Cholewa and Ryan Schaefer.
 
Rotter opened the scoring at 12:24 on an easy, goalmouth tap-in after teammate Drew Farnsworth's initial shot was tipped off the left post by SPU goalkeeper Lars Helleren. The ball caromed parallel to the goal line and rebounded off the right post back to the center where Rotter was waiting.
 
Reierson netted the Falcons lone tally at 34:00 on a brilliant, 27-yard shot that leveled the score. He raced to steal the ball on the right flank and made a dribbling run toward the box, beating a defender before unleashing a low drive that nicked off the left post and careened in.
 
That was the first career goal for the Falcons sophomore defender.
 
After Allen scored at 40:39 to provide a 2-1 Western lead, SPU's Chris Cole received a yellow card for dissent. Less than four minutes later, Cole was whistled for a foul near the right sideline and shown a second yellow to force his ejection from the game.
 
WWU scored on the ensuing 35-yard free kick, a serve into the box that was headed from eight yards straight on and clipped the underside of the crossbar just out of the reach of Helleren.
 
That provided a 3-1 Vikings lead with 36 seconds left in the first half.
 
Cholewa assisted on that goal and then tallied his own 1-minute, 9-seconds after halftime. Rotter made a long run with the ball through several Falcons before laying it off for Cholewa's five-yard finish.
 
Schaefer capped the scoring at 87:21, pounding the ball in from point-blank range. A corner kick to the far post initiated the action, inducing SPU's Samuel Agyei to head the ball back toward the right side. One Viking swung and missed, but Schaefer was true on his attempt.
 
Helleren accumulated 10 saves for the Falcons, who were out-shot by a 28-9 margin.
 
Brandon Wolter stopped two shots for Western.
 
Seattle Pacific concludes the season at home on Thursday against Saint Martin's. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium for the Senior Night game.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018
Harrington Field / Bellingham, Wash.
 
at Western Washington 5, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Scoring – 1, WWU, Christian Rotter (Drew Farnsworth), 12:24; 2, SPU, Nik Reierson (unassisted), 34:00; 3, WWU, Taylor Allen (unassisted), 40:39; 4, Louis Genty (Georg Cholewa), 44:24; 5, WWU, Cholewa (Rotter), 46:09; 6, WWU, Ryan Schaefer (unassisted), 87:21.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific        1   0  --    1
Western Washington     3   2  --    5
 
Shots – SPU 9, WWU 28.
Shots on Goal – SPU 3, WWU 15.
Saves –SPU 10 (Lars Helleren), WWU 2 (Brandon Wolter).
Corner kicks – SPU 7, WWU 4.
Fouls – SPU 17, WWU 16.
Offsides – SPU 1, WWU 1.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 8-10-0, 4-7-0 GNAC
Western Washington 9-6-1, 5-4-1 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific (Senior Night)
Thursday, Nov. 1, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.