• FINAL STATS

PORTLAND, Ore. – Liam Kiger's golden goal just over three minutes into overtime Saturday lifted Concordia (Ore.) to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game at Tuominem Yard.
 
The Falcons (3-5-0) fell to 0-2-0 in league play, including Thursday's 2-0 setback at Northwest Nazarene. It was the first GNAC game for Concordia, which had not played since Sunday.
 
"It's a tough one. We did a lot of things well in the middle third of the field, but our attack has been a little bit lacking," said SPU coach Mark Collings.
 
"We do a lot of really great things then we just don't have a lot of final product to show for it. There's a few reasons for that, but those are all excuses and we're going to refuse to make those and just keep getting better."
 
SPU took the lead in the 24th minute on Alden Massey's team-leading fourth goal of the season. The Cavaliers (3-2-1) answered with a goal by Kieran McMinn just nine minutes later.
 
After a scoreless battle during the final 57 minutes of regulation the teams advanced into the extra session. The Falcons played overtime for the second time this season and the first, on Sept. 1 at Sonoma State, also resulted in a 2-1 loss on an early golden goal.
 
McMinn assisted on Saturday's decisive strike, finding Kiger on a diagonal run from the left side of the box with a low pass. Kiger reached the ball and slipped a shot in from the right post area at 93:08.
 
"There's a lot of good things going on, it's just we keep conceding what we would consider soft goals," Collings said. "We get caught with little lapses and teams are doing a really good job of punishing us for that."
 
Senior Kary Whitney made his third start in goal and collected four saves for SPU, which was out-shot by a 16-9 margin. Grant Alcorn stopped three shots for the hosts.
 
Massey (Cedarcrest HS) notched a hat trick last Saturday (Sept. 15) in SPU's 5-0 home victory over Hawaii Hilo. In Thursday's road loss he was held without a shot.
 
The freshman forward struck paydirt on his first attempt in Portland after an unassisted solo run at 23:59. He received the ball at the far left flank and went on a dribbling run past a defender before slipping a close-range shot between the goalkeeper and the left post.
 
"We built the play up well and got the ball to one side then were able to change it to the other side to Alden, who was isolated," Collings described. "He was able to beat his guy off the dribble and tuck it away in the near post. I was shocked that he was able to sneak it by."
 
The Cavaliers equalizer, at 32:17, came off quick give-and go passing between Brandon McCurtain and McMinn, who finished first-time from five yards in the center of the goalmouth past the outstretched hands of Whitney. That was McMinn's fourth goal of the season.
 
The Cavaliers registered four shots in the final 10 minutes of the first half to claim a 7-2 advantage in that category.
 
Seattle Pacific picked up the offensive pace after halftime.
 
Just five minutes into the second half, a Jordan Greenshield cross from the right corner found Travis Swallow at the back post. Swallow's header forced a point-blank save from Alcorn.

 

In the 69th minute, Mario Vukic forced a save from Alcorn after picking the ball up from outside the penalty area and driving a low shot on target.
 
With three minutes left in in regulation, a quality chance by Massey was blocked. Vukic rebounded and his put-back attempt was also blocked.
 
The SPU men remain on the road for a pair of GNAC games next week. They visit Montana State Billings on Thursday and Saint Martin's next Saturday.
 
The Falcons next home game is Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. against U-Mary. That starts a stretch of six straight games at Interbay Stadium.
 
"In order for the games at home to have significant meaning we've got to find a way to get some results on this next road trip," Collings concluded.
 
"The start of school on Monday obviously changes things a little bit for us. We have to find some sort of routine, which has been hard, but every team faces these things. We just have to find a way to come up with some answers instead of more questions."
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018
Tuominem Yard / Portland, Ore.
 
at Concordia-Portland 2, Seattle Pacific 1 (ot)
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Alden Massey (unassisted), 23:59; 2, CU, Kieran McMinn (Brandon McCurtain), 32:17; 3, CU, Liam Kiger (McMinn), 93:08.
 
                          1   2   3  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific           1   0   0  --    1
Concordia (Ore.)          1   0   1  --    2
 
Shots – SPU 9, CU 16.
Shots on Goal – SPU 4, CU 6.
Saves –SPU 4 (Kary Whitney), CU 3 (Grant Alcorn).
Corner kicks – SPU 4, CU 3.
Fouls – SPU 13, CU 12.
Offsides – SPU 1, CU 0.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 3-5-0,  0-2-0 GNAC
Concordia (Ore.) 3-2-1,  1-0-0 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2:30 p.m. PDT
Yellowjacket Field / Billings, Mont.