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PORTLAND, Ore. – Brendan Laun tallied a goal in each half Thursday, lifting Concordia-Portland to a 2-0 victory over Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game at Tuominen Yard.
 
The Falcons (2-7-1) lost for the fifth time in their last six outings and four of those have been by two-goal margins. Their league record fell to 1-4-0.
 
Concordia (6-3-0) improved to 3-1-0 in GNAC play and remained perfect with wins in all five home contests.
 
The Cavaliers opened the scoring at 26:22 when Oscar Rosas was played into the left side of the box. His shot was deflected by goalkeeper Lars Helleren and rebounded out to Laun, who took a touch to bring the ball out of the air before dispatching from the edge of the box into the back of the net.
 
The Falcons had numerous opportunities and the first-half shot count was even at 7-7. Alex Mejia and Mario Vukic generated most of the chances.
 
In the eighth minute, Mejia registered the Falcons first shot on goal, forcing Kenneth Symmes to make a save.
 
Less than two minutes later Eduardo Calvo-Salinas played a ball from the right side to Mejia who was inside the 6-yard box. Mejia's header redirected the ball into the path of Vukic, but was a bit too far in front.
 
A precise long ball was played into the path of Vukic who was entering the 18. Symmes charged off his line and Vukic was forced to slow down and take a touch around the sophomore goalkeeper, which allowed a Cavalier defender to recover and clear the ball.
 
Some good individual work from Vukic in the 22nd minute created space from defenders and he had a go from 25 yards, but the shot went wide of the left post.
 
A 29th-minute attempt by Mejia forced a save from Symmes, who pushed it out to Titus Grant. Grant coolly finished the ball into the back of the net, but it was called back for offside.
 
Mejia attempted four of the Falcons' 11 shots on the night and he was responsible for both of the team's shots that were directly on target. Those forced Symmes to make two saves en route to his second clean sheet.

 

Vukic was credited with three shots for SPU, which also got two from Skylor Rose and one apiece from Grant and Alden Massey.
 
Helleren stopped five attempts from SMU's 19-shot barrage and a Falcons defender cleared one attempt of the goal line.
 
Two minutes after halftime the Cavaliers pursued another goal with a shot from Christian Thyron that forced a Helleren save.
 
In the 60th minute Laun collected a long ball and took a touch into the box before driving a low shot across Helleren's goal. The ball caromed off the far post and back to Kyle Dearborn, whose follow attempt forced another Helleren save.
 
At 73:13 the Cavaliers found the insurance goal that they so desperately wanted. After earning a free kick just inside the Falcons half, Dane Kiger launched a free kick deep into the Falcons penalty area. Laun leaped and flicked an uncontested header past Helleren to complete his brace.
 
The two goals from Laun doubled his season goal tally to four and secured Concordia's third straight victory in the series with the Falcons.
 
Seattle Pacific remains on the road for a visit to Saint Martin's next Thursday, Oct. 24. Kick-off is 3 p.m. at SMU Soccer Field.
 
The Falcons next home game is a rematch versus Concordia on Oct. 26. That 7 p.m. clash will be contested at Interbay Stadium.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Tuominen Yard / Portland, Ore.
 
at Concordia-Portland 2, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Scoring – 1, CU, Brendan Laun (Oscar Rosas), 26:22; 2, CU, Laun (Dane Kiger), 73:12.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific        0   0  --    0
Concordia-Portland     1   1  --    2
 
Shots – SPU 11, CU 19.
Shots on Goal -- SPU 2, CU 8
Saves – SPU 6 (Lars Helleren 5, Team 1), CU 2 (Kenneth Symmes).
Corner Kicks – SPU 7, CU 3.
Fouls – SPU 14, CU 9
Offsides – SPU 3, CU 1.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 2-7-1,  1-4-0 GNAC
Concordia-Portland 6-3-0,  3-1-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's
Thursday, Oct. 24, 3:00 p.m. PDT
SMU Soccer Field / Lacey, Wash.