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ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Megan Moore deposited a golden goal less than two minutes into overtime Saturday, giving the Seattle Pacific women to a 1-0 victory over Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference soccer matchup at Tomlinson Stadium.
 
The Falcons (8-5-0) were victorious for the sixth time in their last seven outings. They improved to 6-1-0 in GNAC play, solidifying their hold on second place entering an encounter with league-leading Western Washington.
 
Despite playing in a downpour in Ellensburg, Moore found herself in the right place at the right time to punch in the golden goal at 91:54. Central goalkeeper Emily Thomson batted an SPU cross away from her goalmouth and Moore followed up with a first-time shot from two yards behind the top of the 6-yard box.
 
The senior midfielder found the back of the net for the first time this season. Moore has six career goals and half of them were game-winning strikes.
 
"It's a moment where it's fitting for a senior captain to step up to solve that thing for us today," SPU coach Arby Busey exclaimed.
 
"Megan Moore has had some many opportunities this year being in the right place at the right time, but had goalkeepers make great saves and different things. For her to get that goal is a testament to her character and her ability to stick with things and continue to put herself in the same places to be successful."
 
The Wildcats (5-5-1) saw their GNAC record drop to 3-2-1. They lost for the fourth consecutive time to SPU, which now owns a 27-7-4 lead in the all-time series.
 
Working Overtime
The Falcons played into overtime for the fourth time this season and have yet to need a second, 10-minute extra session. They got a 97th-minute golden goal from Claire Neder on Sept. 19 at Point Loma.
 
Twice SPU has been the victim of a rapid overtime goal, surrendering 92-minute game-enders to Dixie State (Sept. 7) and Cal Poly Pomona (Sept. 21).
 
"This year for us it's certainly been in the early stages of overtime that things have gotten solved. Today, is was a matter of keeping our foot on the gas," said Busey. "We felt like the goal was going to come for us sooner than it was going to come for them.
 
"You get into those moments and the tension rachets up and sometimes people make mistakes in those moments. Sometimes other people, like Megan, step up and make plays in those moments."
 
That Saturday's game went to overtime is a tribute to the CWU defense, especially the goalkeeper. Thomson was credited with seven saves for the hosts, who were outshot by a 22-6 margin.
 
Riley Travis picked up her fourth clean sheet in goal for the Falcons, who shut out their sixth opponent.
 
Scoreless Start
The teams battled to a scoreless draw during the first 45 minutes. SPU compiled a 7-4 edge in the shot count despite not getting off an attempt until the 21st minute.
 
The initial shot by either team didn't come until 11:49 when Teanna Lathum broke free 30 yards from the SPU goal and found herself in a one-on-one situation with the onrushing goalkeeper. Latham's low shot from the edge of the box nicked the right post and bounded away.
 
The game's second shot also came from distance by Latham, and her 17th-minute drive carried wide to the right.

 

The Falcons' first foray occurred at 20:10 off the foot of Neder and it was blocked. Just 33 seconds later Sophia Chilczuk directed a low shot that was barely tapped past the left post by Thomson for a corner kick.
 
In the 23rd minute, Chloe Gelhaus fired a low shot that forced a save by the Central goalkeeper. Thomson stopped two first-half attempts to preserve the halftime tie.
 
After the opening two attempts by Latham, SPU reeled off six straight shots, but none of them struck paydirt.
 
The visitors' best first-period opportunity came in the 37th minute when Neder delivered a 23-yard shot that carried inches the crossbar.
 
"Playing a difficult opponent on the road in adverse conditions, it's starting to feel like late October, early November. It's post-seasonish in terms of the climate and the conditions," Busey described. "This is a good result confidence-wise because this was a tough go.
 
"We had a lot of opportunities, but they seemed to have an answer for everything that we were doing. For us to stick with it and figure out a way to get a win in a tough place to play only gives us more confidence going into next week."
 
SPU Dominates but No Second-Half Joy
Seattle Pacific continued to be the aggressor after halftime and produced a 13-2 shot advantage, but got no goals to show for it.
 
Just 25 seconds after intermission, Chilczuk had a 14-yard shot trickle wide of right post.
 
In the 51st minute, Moore had an open look off cross from the right flank, but mishit the first-time shot. Five minutes later, Ava Giovanola raced to reach a clearing punch by Thomson. The SPU defender one-timed a lazer that went just wide to the left.
 
Chiczuk had another quality chance in the 72nd minute, sprinting with the ball into the Wildcats box before lining a 16-yard blast just wide of the left post.
 
The game's finest opportunity before overtime came with 14:14 left in regulation. Neder dribbled into the CWU box and hit a point-blank shot from the top corner of the 6-yard box that was parried at the right post by Thomson, who managed to pounced on the rebound.
 
Central nearly snuck away with a late winner in regulation. With 5:40 showing on the clock, Sophia Keenan launched a long shot from the right side of the box that barely went wide of the upper left corner.
 
The shot tally after regulation was 20-6 in favor of SPU, which to that point put six shots directly on frame while preventing any attempts on goal by the Wildcats.
 
Next Week
The SPU women remain on the road for a pair of games next week. They visit Bellingham on Thursday for a clash with 12th-ranked Western Washington. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Harrington Field.
 
"These are really fun games that we get the opportunity to play. We've done a lot of work up to this point, as have they, to create something that can be pretty special," Busey said of the upcoming meeting with the first-place Vikings.
 
"To go up there and face the caliber of opponent that they will be is something that we all look forward to. It will be a challenge, but we have the type of women in our program that appreciate and thrive on those kinds of challenges. We'll do our best to try to sneak a result from them."
 
Next Saturday, Oct. 26, the Falcons play an 11 a.m. Pacific Time game at Montana State Billings.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Tomlinson Stadium / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 1, at Central Washington 0 (ot)
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Megan Moore (unassisted), 91:54.
 
                        1   2  OT  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific         0   0   1  --    1
Central Washington      0   0   0  --    0
 
Shots – SPU 22, CWU 6.
Shots on Goal – SPU 7, CWU 0.
Saves – SPU 0 (Riley Travis), CWU 6 (Emily Thomson).
Corner Kicks – SPU 4, CWU 1.
Fouls – SPU 7, CWU 13.
Offsides – SPU 1, CWU 5.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 8-5-0,  6-1-0 GNAC
Central Washington 5-5-1,  3-2-1 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at (#12) Western Washington
Thursday, Oct. 24, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Harrington Field / Bellingham, Wash.