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BILLINGS, Mont. – Early goals less than one minute apart Saturday from Mariah Alexander and Claire Neder started Seattle Pacific on its way to a 4-1 victory over Montana State Billings and Sophia Chilczuk tacked on two second-half scores in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer game that was moved to Klindt Field.
 
Slated for a noon kick-off, MSUB's Yellowjacket Field was ruled unplayable due to snow accumulation in the morning. The game time was changed to 5 p.m. and venue switched to Rocky Mountain College.
 
At the time of the early evening kick-off the temperature was in the low 30s.
 
Neither the inclement weather, unfamiliar setting nor the Yellowjackets could stop SPU.
 
Goals Galore
Alexander scored in the seventh minute and Neder followed 49 seconds later with a goal. Chilczuk netted her goals 10 minutes apart to increase her team-leading total to five goals.
 
The hosts spoiled the shutout bid with 3:37 left to play on a goal by Julia Keller.
 
SPU sophomore goalkeeper Riley Travis stopped one shot. Her counterpart, Erinn Harder, made six saves for Billings, which was outshot by a 13-3 margin.
 
"It's a great result," said SPU coach Arby Busey. "Another challenge for us on the road with some adverse weather conditions. But, having been through what we've been through on the road helped and paid dividends today. The girls were fantastic with adjusting their schedule and their routine, showing up and playing really well."
 
GNAC Tournament Bound
The Falcons (9-6-0) rebounded from Thursday's 3-0 loss at 10th-ranked Western Washington. They improved their league ledger to 7-2-0 and clinched a spot in the GNAC Tournament that will be hosted at their Interbay Stadium on November 14 and 16.
 
The top-four teams in the final regular-season standings participate in the conference championships and SPU currently sits in second place with 21 points.
 
Seattle Pacific made good on its second shot of the game, capitalizing on a corner kick just over six minutes into the contest. After receiving the ball back on a short-corner play, Ava Giovanola served a cross into the goal area and it deflected off the hip of Alexander and into the right corner at 6:15.
 
"Mariah did a good job of timing her run on the short-corner sequence. She got her hip-pocket to it," Busey described. "It wasn't the prettiest one we've ever scored, but it meant the same as all the other ones."
 
That was the second goal for the sophomore central defender, who only presses forward on set pieces.
 
Neder quickly made it 2-0 in the Falcons favor. Megan Moore looped a far-post cross from the left flank to Neder, who finished back to the center of the goal from five yards out at 7:04.
 
The Yellowjackets were held without a shot during the opening 45 minutes while allowing five. They didn't have an attempt until 37 seconds after halftime when Alexa Iacolucci's shot sailed high.
 
MSUB's other two shots didn't come until the final six minutes. Iacolucci fired an 85th-minute attempt that was snared by Travis.
 
At 86:23, Courteney Shovlin broke free into the box and fed a square pass to Keller for the easy goal.
 
A Brace in Billings
 

Prior to the Yellowjackets tally, Chilczuk netted a pair of goals. The junior forward was freed into the box by a through pass from Makena Rietz and slotted a shot past the onrushing goalkeeper at 60:13.
 
"Sophia did a lot of work on the first one to put herself in position to finish," said Busey. "With the amount of work that she's done for us over the course of the season and created spaces and opportunities for other people, it was nice to see her put a couple in the net today."
 
Chilczuk secured her brace at 70:27 with a high shot off a cross into the center of the box.
 
Fittingly, Samea Aljundi was credited with an assist on the goal. The sophomore midfielder transferred to SPU from Billings prior to the 2018 season, which she sat out as a red-shirt.
 
"Samea made a fantastic run upfield and drew a bunch of defenders and then gave the ball to Sophia, who buried it," Busey said.
 
"It's was Samea's first opportunity to return back to a place that she attended and get the chance to play and perform. She was very motivated. It was great to see her name on the scoreboard today, it reflected the work-rate that she brought to the game."
 
Chilczuk is the second Falcon to register a multi-goal game this season, joining Chloe Gellhaus who scored twice versus Saint Martin's on Oct. 17.
 
Next Game
The SPU women complete the regular season with three consecutive home contests at Interbay Stadium. That closing stretch begins with a Nov. 2 encounter versus Western Oregon at 1 p.m.
 
"It's going to be foreign territory for us. We're going to have to learn how to play at home again," Busey joked about having played only five times in Seattle so far this season.
 
"We're super excited. Interbay is a place where we're very comfortable, and we've played some really good games there so far this year. We are hoping to play out those final three games and get ourselves prepared to host the GNAC Tournament."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Klindt Field / Billings, Mont.
 
Seattle Pacific 4, at Montana State Billings 1
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Mariah Alexander (Ava Giovanola), 6:15; 2, SPU, Claire Neder (Megan Moore), 7:04; 3, SPU, Sophia Chilczuk (Makena Rietz), 60:13; 4, SPU, Chilczuk (Samea Aljundi), 70:27; 5, MSUB, Julia Keller (Courteney Shovlin), 86:23.
 
                          1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific           2   2  --    4
Montana State Billings    0   1  --    1
 
Shots – SPU 13, MSUB 3.
Shots on Goal – SPU 10, MSUB 2.
Saves – SPU 1 (Riley Travis), MSUB 6 (Erinn Harder).
Corner Kicks – SPU 5, MSUB 4.
Fouls – SPU 8, MSUB 3.
Offsides – SPU 5, MSUB 0.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 9-6-0,  7-2-0 GNAC
Montana State Billings 4-8-2, 3-6-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Nov. 2, 1:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.