• STATS (pdf) 
• VIDEO: Eduardo  Calvo-Salinas goal

SEATTLE – Nicholas Denley netted a golden goal 12 minutes into overtime Saturday for Concordia-Portland, which had forced overtime with 17 seconds left in regulation of a 4-3 win over Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game at Interbay Stadium.
 
The Falcons (3-8-1) tallied three unanswered second-half goals to claim a 3-2 lead with 16 minutes left in regulation. They fell to 2-5-0 in league play.
 
Just went it looked like SPU would preserve that slim, one-goal margin the visitors equalized at 89:43. Goalkeeper Lars Helleren leaped to snatch the airborne ball, but the Cavaliers Brendan Laun was there to pressure him and it dropped to the ground. Laun poked the ball in from two yards out to force overtime.
 
Seattle Pacific attempted the first three shots during the two, 10-minute overtime sessions, including a golden opportunity. In the 99th minute, Alex Mejia beat a defender on the dribble into the left side of the box and had only the goalkeeper to beat from 15 yards. His vicious, low shot went directly to Kenneth Symmes and almost slipped through his legs.
 
When the Cavaliers finally got an overtime attempt, at 102:04, they capitalized with Denley's game-winner. He received a pass from Kyle Dearborn and concluded a long dribbling run into the box with a 14-yard liner to the lower left corner.

EDUARDO CALVO-SALINAS TYING GOAL

 Concordia (7-5-0) improved to 4-3-0 in GNAC games and completed a sweep of the season series after beating the Falcons 2-0 on Oct. 17 in Portland.

Fast-Starting Cavaliers
The visitors built Saturday's 2-0 halftime lead on a pair of unassisted goals.
 
Paul Seydel collected the ball off a deflection and raced into the box, chipping Helleren from nine yards. SPU defender Jose Benavides tried to clear the ball off the line, but it still spun across at 7:16.
 
A misplay by Helleren enabled the second score. He took too long with the ball at his feet and Seydel sprinted to block his clearance near the top of the 6-yard box. Dearborn retrieved the ball and, with his back to the goal, flicked a 15-yard shot over his own head and that of the goalkeeper. The ball soared into the goal at 16:10.
 
"We gave up bad goals again early and that has to stop," said SPU coach Mark Collings. "We battled hard and had our chances to finish and didn't.
 
"It was a little unfortunate the way some things went tonight with some decisions and then we gave up a really bad goal in overtime."
 
Despite going scoreless in the first half, SPU managed five shots. The best of them came in the 32nd minute when Titus Grant streaked into the left side of the box with the ball, but his shot went into the left outside-netting.
 
The Cavaliers nearly added a third goal seven minutes after intermission, but Denley's 35-yard blast banged off the right post.

The Comeback
 

Instead, the Falcons mounted a furious second-half comeback. They reeled off a trio of goals, beginning with Alden Massey's first score of the season. Grant made a dribbling on the right side and sent a square pass to Massey, who took one long touch before bending a low 22-yard shot inside right post at 60:55.
 
Alex Mejia leveled the score at 69:17 on a diving header. Grant looped a cross into the top of the 6-yard box and Mejia raced to nod it to the top right corner from eight yards away.
 
The Falcons gained their first lead of the game with exactly 16:00 showing on the clock. Eduardo Calvo-Salinas gathered a loose ball in the congested box and spun to direct a 15-yard blast into the left side with his first goal as a Falcon.
 
"It was nice for Eduardo and Alden to get in the scoring column tonight. That's something that's really been missing, so to have them break the ice hopefully that can get them going for the rest of the year," said Collings, who singled out the go-ahead goal for praise.
 
"It was a really good finish by Eduardo off a rebound. It was a decent buildup to get there and then a really good finish by him because there was a lot of traffic."
 
Helleren finished with six saves for the Falcons, who were outshot by a 23-17 margin.
 
Concordia's Symmes stopped four shots.

Next Week
The SPU men are on the road next week for two games against teams at the top of the GNAC table. They visit first-place Western Washington on Thursday and second-place Simon Fraser on Saturday.
 
But Collings is more concerned with focusing on his team than worrying about the opposition.
 
"Honestly, it doesn't matter who we play, we've been our own worst enemy. We've made too many mistakes. Good teams punish your mistakes and we got punished again tonight.
 
"It's just frustrating to play so well in so many facets of the game, but to give up these goals. Unfortunately when you give up goals you are really putting a lot of pressure on yourself."
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
Concordia-Portland 4, at Seattle Pacific 3 (2ot)
 
Scoring – 1, CU, Paul Seydel (unassisted), 7:16; 2, CU, Kyle Dearborn (unassisted), 16:10; 3, SPU, Alden Massey (Titus Grant), 60:55; 4, SPU, Alex Mejia (Grant), 69:17; 5, SPU, Eduardo Calvo-Salinas (unassisted), 74:00; 6, CU, Brendan Laun (unassisted), 89:43; 7, Nicholas Denley (Dearborn, Kenneth Symmes), 102:04.
 
                       1   2  OT  OT  --  TOTAL
Concordia-Portland     2   1   0   1  --    4
Seattle Pacific        0   3   0   0  --    3
 
Shots – CU 23, SPU 17.
Shots on Goal -- CU 10, SPU 7.
Saves – CU 4 (Kenneth Symmes), SPU 6 (Lars Helleren).
Corner Kicks – CU 5, SPU 10.
Fouls – CU 27, SPU 18.
Offsides – CU 1, SPU 2.
 
Records
Concordia-Portland 7-5-0, 4-3-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 3-8-1,  2-5-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
Thursday, Oct. 31, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Harrington Field / Bellingham, Wash.