• FINAL STATS (html)

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – For the second game in three days Seattle Pacific pushed out in front by two goals, this time holding strong to complete a four-game road trip with a 2-1 men's soccer win at Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday afternoon.
 
Titus Grant and Travis Swallow staked the visitors to a two-score lead midway through the first half and Lars Helleren came up with a big stop late in the game to preserve the victory and avoid the first 0-4 start in 15 years.
 
"Once again we came out and played really well in the first half," said SPU coach Mark Collings. "We executed how we wanted to play today and were able to play some really good soccer.
 
"We scored two really good goals, but unfortunately gave up a goal toward the end of the half, which made it a little bit more tense going into halftime."
 
Helleren, a freshman from King's High School making his third start, charged off his line in the 80th minute to deny the Sea Lions a potential tying goal.
 
A ball was pumped upfield from the halfway line and, after an SPU defender misjudged it, fell to the feet of Point Loma's Tim Siegfried, sprinting down the left channel. But just as Siegfried gained control, Helleren smothered the shot and the Falcons regained possession.
 
Seattle Pacific, which had led 2-0 at Azusa Pacific on Thursday night, salted away the final minutes and is now 1-3-0.
 
Collings credited his team's resolve to maintain their early level of play for preserving the lead Saturday.
 
"We did a better job with that. Really it was about managing the game and not changing. Sometimes you get a lead and you start thinking you need to do something different, you start playing not to lose instead of to win."
 
After going 17 regular season games without a defeat, Point Loma (1-2-0) has now lost two straight.
 
With a stiff sea breeze at their backs, the Falcons were constantly running at the defense for the first half-hour. After 37 minutes they had an 8-0 advantage in shots and a two-goal lead, just as they did at Azusa the previous outing.
 
A foray down the left resulted in a weak clearance that Mario Vukic (Bainbridge HS) collected and dropped to Grant. Running behind the play, Grant drove it low past goalkeeper Connor McEwen from 16 yards.

 

Just over three minutes later, SPU pounced once more. A long ball over the top found a streaking Swallow, who controlled the ball on his chest, then lobbed over the onrushing keeper.
 
Reserve players accounted for every goal in the Falcons previous games.
 
"We hadn't had any of our starters score a goal, so to get Titus and Travis on the scoresheet was great. Our goals are going to come by committee. We just have a lot of really good soccer players and we're not the type of team that's going to rely on one guy to carry us.
 
"For us today, Titus was able to put himself in some good spots and we were able to find him. When he gets going it will be fun for all of us to watch."
 
Unable to generate a shot for the first 40 minutes, the Sea Lions capitalized on their first true opportunity. Getting on the end of a low cross to the near post, Sartwell squeezed his 6-yard shot past Helleren.
 
Helleren was among four lineup changes for Coach Collings. He was credited with just a single save. McEwen was forced to make four on the Falcons' 12 shots. A fifth was credited to a defender in the 70th minute.
 
Grant got free and cut inside the box. His 10-yard shot got past McEwen but was cleared off the goal line. It was the closest scoring opportunity for either side in the scoreless second half.
 
Seattle Pacific now moves to Interbay Stadium for its home opener Thursday night. The Falcons host Hawaii Pacific at 7 p.m.
 
Collings couldn't overstate the importance of this first victory heading into the homestand.
 
"It's massive. You can just see the burden of getting a win lifted off our guys' shoulders here today. We know that 1-3 sounds a lot better than 0-4, that's for sure. It's a great way for us to come home and see if we can build on this momentum.
 
"Now we get to go home and have a big celebration for all the history in our program and our guys are going to be a part of that."
 
Seattle Pacific celebrates 50 years of men's soccer with former players congregating for numerous events over the weekend, culminating with a ceremony on Saturday at halftime of the 7 p.m. game versus Hawaii-Hilo.
 
THROW INS
• Five different players have accounted for the five Falcons goals this season.

• SPU implemented a different starting lineup in every game this season, and four freshmen opened Saturday's game. Those changes were necessitated by injuries and two red cards that forced players to miss the subsequent game.  "We're trying to incorporate so many new players and we had another couple guys out today. It's been really difficult to find a rhythm and get any kind of chemistry going when you're constantly changing your lineup," Coach Mark Collings said.
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018
PLNU Soccer Field / San Diego, Calif.
 
Seattle Pacific 2, at Point Loma Nazarene 1
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Titus Grant (Mario Vukic), 17:06; 2, SPU, Travis Swallow (Reid Baez), 21:20; 3, PLNU, Tanner Sartwell (Andrew Kleszewski), 40:20.
 
                        1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific         2   0  --    2
Point Loma Nazarene     1   0  --    1
 
Shots – SPU 12, PLNU 7
Shots on Goal – SPU 7, PLNU 3
Saves – SPU 1 (Lars Helleren), PLNU 5 (Connor McEwen 4)
Corner kicks – SPU 3, PLNU 3
Fouls – SPU 9, PLNU 21
Offsides – SPU 4, PLNU 0
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 1-3-0
Point Loma Nazarene 1-2-0
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Hawaii Pacific at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Sept. 13, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.