• FINAL STATS

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Seniors Makayla Sonstelie and Kasey Reeve each scored a goal Saturday, powering the Seattle Pacific women to a 2-0 victory over Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference clash at the CWU Soccer Complex.
 
The senior class did all of the damage for SPU as Kaytlin Willis was credited with an assist on Sonstelie's 18th-minute goal and Sydnee Smith set up Reeve in the 50th.
 
They are four of five senior starters for the Falcons, part of a large, nine-woman senior class.
 
"The seniors have been fantastic. The leadership that they showed from day one this year has been amazing," said Arby Busey, who assumed the SPU head coaching duties when they were freshmen. "We're getting production from everybody else based upon the way these seniors set the tone and the example that they are setting.
 
"It was nice today to have a few of them get on the scoresheet. Obviously they've played together for a long time and those connections are forged deep within them."
 
The Falcons (6-1-1) completed a sweep of their league-opening road set, improving to 2-0-0 in GNAC games. They were 4-0 victors at Saint Martin's on Thursday.
 
"To come out of a weekend with two road games and get two shutout wins is not easy to do," Busey said. "These kids put in a lot of work to allow that to happen and I'm super proud of them."

 

Freshman goalkeeper Riley Travis (Ballard HS) registered her fourth clean sheet en route to the team's sixth shutout. She made three saves and survived her greatest test late in the first half.
 
CWU's Makinzie Packwood fired a blast from the top of the box, forcing Travis to go airborne to deflect the ball away from the top left corner in the 38th minute.
 
"Amazing save," Busey exclaimed. "Riley just found another moment today where we needed everything that she could muster. She was able to stretch and tip a ball over the bar that was destined for goal without her intervention. She was brilliant."
 
One minute later, Travis stopped an attempt by KK Wallace and, 24 seconds after that, Presswood sent a shot off the crossbar.
 
Sonstelie (Auburn HS) initiated the scoring at 17:06 with a brilliant finish from the right side of the box. She received a pass from Willis (Snohomish HS) and lofted a 17-yard shot over the goalkeeper and into the upper left of the goal for her second score of the season.
 
Willis nearly netted one of her own just four minutes later as she forced the Central keeper to deal with a hard shot from the top of the box. Emily Thomson was barely able to tap the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.
 
Thomson finished with four saves for the Wildcats (1-4-2), who had their GNAC record evened at 1-1-0 after being out-shot by a slim 11-9 margin. She got help in the seventh minute when teammate Jaylyn Jenkins cleared a shot off the goal line that was delivered by Reeve.
 
The Falcons forward found the back of the net at 49:16, directing a header off the post and into the goal off a free kick from Smith. That was the third tally of the season for Reeve, her first since the second game of the season on September 1.
 
"That was a good goal she had," Busey described. "She just got up and powered home a header. It's great to have her get going again."
 
The SPU women return home to host two games next week at Interbay Stadium. They meet Simon Fraser on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Northwest Nazarene next Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
"Any time we play at home that's going to be a little extra excitement for us because we really enjoy playing at Interbay and feel comfortable there," said Busey. "So it will be nice to be back in the friendly confines.
 
"We will look to continue to grow and progress with two more very challenging opponents. They're going to give us everything that we can handle."
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018
CWU Soccer Complex / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 2, at Central Washington 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Makayla Sonstelie (Kaytlin Willis), 17:06; 2, SPU, Kasey Reeve (Sydney Smith), 49:16.
 
                       1   2  -- Total
Seattle Pacific        1   1  --   2
Central Washington     0   0  --   0
 
Shots – SPU 11, CWU 9.
Shots on Goal – SPU 7, CWU 3.
Saves – SPU 3 (Riley Travis), CWU 5 (Emily Thomson 4, Team 1).
Corner kicks – SPU 3, CWU 6.
Fouls – SPU 7, CWU 8.
Offsides – SPU 5, CWU 2.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 6-1-1,  2-0-0 GNAC
Central Washington 1-4-2,  1-1-0 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Sept. 27, 5:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.