•FINAL STATS  |  •VIDEO: Senior Night Ceremony

SEATTLE – Titus Grant opened the scoring with his team-leading 13th goal of the season for Seattle Pacific, but visiting Saint Martin's rallied with two unanswered second-half goals to claim a 2-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer win at Interbay Stadium.
 
The SPU men (8-11-0) saw their season end with a five-game losing streak. They finished with a 4-8-0 league record.
 
An apparent equalizer by Grant, with 1-minute, 6-seconds left to play, was nullified by the assistant referee. Instead the Falcons were awarded a free kick 35 yards from the goal near the right sideline as the advantage rule was not implemented.
 
The Saints (8-9-0) improved their GNAC record to 6-5-0 with one game remaining. They leveled the score in the 53rd minute on an unassisted tally by John Cayman and then got the game-winner in the 71st off the foot of Brandon Madsen.


 
Grant is the first SPU player to post a double-figure scoring season since Tyler Schultz had 16 goals in 2011. The sophomore forward picked up at least one point in nine of the Falcons final 11 games with 11 goals and two assists during that stretch.
 
"Titus has been exceptional. His pace and scoring ability are tremendous," exclaimed SPU coach Mark Collings.
 
"Certainly he has areas to improve in, and when he does improve the sky is the limit for him. A sophomore year with 13 goals is pretty remarkable and certainly a lot for us to build on with him."
 
Grant's goal Thursday was set up by two well-connected passes.
 
SPU defender Luke Postma stole the ball 10 yards behind the 50 and rolled a pass to Alden Massey in the offensive half. The ball was quickly relayed to Grant who sprinted 10 yards on the dribble before chipping a shot from just outside the top of the box, over the on-rushing goalkeeper. The ball slowly trickled into the left side of the goal at 48:48.
 
That lead didn't last long as SMU found an equalizer less than four minutes later.
 
Cayman went on a lengthy dribbling run through and around defenders in the left side of the box, finally finding an opening to send an eight-yard shot into the top right corner at 52:25.
 
The contest remaining deadlocked for the next 18 minutes before the decisive score was initiated by Sebastian Navarro, who slipped a low through pass into the right side of the box.
 
Madsen received the ball and steered toward the right post, managing to angle a low, 10-yard shot inside the left post before the SPU goalkeeper and a defender descended on him.
 
That game-winning strike came on a counter attack just 19 seconds after the Falcons nearly surged into the lead. Nik Reierson pounded a shot that Griffin Small dove to knock down near the left post. The Saints goalkeeper quickly picked up the rebound and fired it to a teammate sprinting down the field to starting the scoring surge.
 
Both Small and SPU goalkeeper Kary Whitney were credited with five saves and the two teams were equal with 13 shots apiece.
 
The Falcons had the better first-half chances, out-shooting the visitors 8-5 during the opening 45 minutes.
 
Just 1:43 into game Grant broke free into the box, bearing down on the goalkeeper. Small was able to snare the shot, turning back the early challenge.
 
SPU senior Jason Schmidt was twice denied in the first half. The first time, in the 10th minute, his shot struck the post. In the 31st minute his low, 22-yard drive from straight on was fielded by Small.
 
The SMU goalkeeper collected four of his five saves in the first half, including the deflection of a hard, 17-yard shot by Reierson in the 37th minute.
 
The best scoring chance in the first half by the Saints came off the head of Madsen in the 34th minute. He sent a six-yard flick goalward that was grabbed by Whitney.

 

The senior goalkeeper is one of six SPU players that were recognized during a ceremony prior to their final collegiate game. Whitney, Postma and Schmidt are joined in the senior class by Reid Baez, Jacob Bohl and Chris Cole. All of them started the game except Cole, who received two yellow cards in the last outing and was not allowed to play Thursday.
 
Coach Collings was effusive in his praise for those six student-athletes.
 
"This was a difficult year from a results standpoint. But the fact that we made the progress we did after the slow start has a lot to do with our seniors and their leadership. The respect our youngers guys have for them is immense. These seniors were at training with great attitudes and working hard and pushing the standard, bringing other guys under their wing and letting them know how we do things. You can't put a value on that.
 
"The character that they have as human beings is incredible," Collings concluded. "Ultimately they won't be defined by wins and losses. These six guys leaving us will be successful in life and I can't wait to see what they do."
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
Saint Martin's 2, at Seattle Pacific 1
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Titus Grant (Alden Massey, Luke Postma), 48:18; 2, SMU, John Cayman (unassisted), 52:25; 3, SMU, Brandon Madsen (Sebastian Navarro), 70:10.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Saint Martin's         0   2  --    2
Seattle Pacific        0   1  --    1
 
Shots – SMU 13, SPU 13.
Shots on Goal – SMU 7, SPU 6.
Saves – SMU 5 (Griffin Small), SPU 5 (Kary Whitney).
Corner kicks – SMU 4, SPU 4.
Fouls – SMU 16, SPU 12.
Offsides – SMU 4, SPU 9.
 
Records
Saint Martin's 8-9-0, 6-5-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 8-11-0,  4-8-0 GNAC