• FINAL STATS  |  • PHOTO GALLERY
   • VIDEO: CHLOE  GELLHAUS GOAL
   • VIDEO: CHLOE  GELLHAUS INTERVIEW

SEATTLE – Mariah Alexander scored her first collegiate goal and distributed two assists Thursday, leading Seattle Pacific to a 3-0 win over Concordia-Portland in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer game at Interbay Stadium.
 
Alexander helped Chloe Gellhaus break a scoreless tie 48 seconds before halftime. SPU added two more in the second half, less than two minutes apart, with Alexander finding the goal in the 54th minute and setting up Sierra Smith in the 56th.
 
A sophomore central defender, Alexander sparked a backline that surrendered just one shot directly on goal and eight overall en route to SPU's third consecutive shutout. The Falcons have blanked four opponents this season.
 
"Mariah showed great resolve in terms of continuing to look for opportunities to impact the game with her ability to pass, because she is a good passer. We utilized that twice," said SPU coach Arby Busey. "She's fantastic in the air and was great defensively on restarts all year long. It's nice for her to finally get one on an attacking restart and get the goal."
 
Goalkeeper Riley Travis made one save to pick up a second clean sheet in her return after missing three games due to injury.
 


The Falcons (5-4-0) maintained their perfect league ledger, improving to 3-0-0. They have not surrendered a goal to a GNAC opponent, outscoring them by a combined 8-0 figure.
 
Seattle Pacific halted a five-game winless streak versus Concordia, including a pair of postseason losses last season. The Cavaliers eliminated SPU from both the GNAC and NCAA Tournaments in 2018, both with 2-1 decisions in Portland.
 
Concordia (2-6-0), the defending GNAC Tournament champion, dropped to 0-2-0 in conference play.
 
A wonderful combination contributed to the first goal that put the Falcons up 1-0 just 48 seconds before halftime. Alexander sent the ball from 15 yards into the offensive half to Sophia Chilzcuk, who quickly one-touched a pass to Gellhaus. The freshman blasted a 26-yard shot into the upper left corner at 44:12.
 
"It was a huge goal and well deserved," said Busey, who altered his locker room speech due to the late goal by Gellhaus. "I was thinking how my halftime talk was going to go at 0-0, with us doing a lot of really good things but not having not as much to show for it. That changed and it was great to have that going into halftime, just the way that it happened.
 
"It was very emphatic in terms of the finish there. There seemed to be a lot of venom behind it. Chloe blistered that ball and really gave us momentum going into halftime for sure."
 
That gave Gellhaus a goal in consecutive games as she netted her first collegiate tally in Saturday's 2-0 win at Saint Martin's.


 
The Cavaliers came close to getting an equalizer before intermission, but Brenda Uribe's header caromed off the crossbar with 10 seconds showing on the clock.
 
Those were the best scoring chances during the first half. SPU gained an 8-4 shooting edge in the opening 45 minutes, including a 24th-minute try from distance by Makena Rietz that traveled just wide of the right post.
 
Gellhaus nearly struck again in the 54th minute, but her firm attempt from the top of the box slammed off the crossbar.
 
Alexander scored at 53:47 on a header to the top right from just outside the 6-yard box off a left-side corner kick from Ava Giovanola. Those two were prep teammates at nearby Skyline High School in Sammamish, Wash.
 
"Her and Ava played high school and club soccer together, so they've done that a million times," Busey described. "It was nice to see them come together on that moment here tonight."
 
Just 1-minute, 50-seconds later Alexander lofted a long ball toward the box that freed Sierra Smith for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Smith slipped a low, 17-yard shot past Isabelle Davis and inside the right post at 55:37.
 
Davis came on in relief of starting goalkeeper Hailey Asato, who left in the 62nd minute. Asato stopped two shots and Davis did not make a save. The Cavaliers were on the short end of a 15-8 shot count.
 
The SPU women return to action Saturday in Monmouth, Ore. They play Western Oregon at 11 a.m.
 
"We're going to have our hands absolutely full with a game Western Oregon team. They've got new coaches, they've got new life, new inspiration down there," said Busey.
 
"It's going to be a very difficult game coming off the high that we feel now, we're going to have to mentally and physically get ourselves in a good place to go down there. They are going to give us everything that we can handle on Saturday."
 
The Falcons next home game is Oct. 12 at 4:30 p.m. versus Simon Fraser.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 3, Concordia-Portland 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Chloe Gellhaus (Sophia Chilczuk, Mariah Alexander), 44:12; 2, SPU, Mariah Alexander (Ava Giovanola), 53:47; 3, SPU, Sierra Smith (Mariah Alexander), 55:37.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Concordia-Portland     0   0  --    0
Seattle Pacific        1   2  --    3
 
Shots – CU 8, SPU 15.
Shots on Goal -- CU 1, SPU 5.
Saves –CU 2 (Hailey Asato 2, Isabelle Davis 0), SPU 1 (Riley Travis).
Corner Kicks – CU 2, SPU 5.
Fouls – CU 12, SPU 10.
Offsides – CU 0, SPU 1.
 
 
Records
Concordia-Portland 2-6-0,  0-2-1 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 5-4-0,  3-0-0 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
Saturday, Oct. 5, 11:00 a.m. PDT
WOU Soccer Field / Monmouth, Ore.