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SEATTLE – William Raphael tallied three first-half goals Saturday for 24th-ranked Simon Fraser, which held off a furious Seattle Pacific rally to register a 4-2 men's soccer win in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup at Interbay Stadium.
 
Raphael compiled three goals during the opening 31:19, the first two coming in the 13th and 18th minutes.
 
After late first-half SPU strikes by Titus Grant and Ed Weise cut the deficit to 3-2, the Clan got an goal from Connor Glennon with 15:26 remaining to secure the result.
 
"I'm really having a hard time explaining our season at this point," said SPU coach Mark Collings. "Obviously we didn't start well. But from the 30th minute on, boy I thought for 60 minutes we were fantastic and deserved so much more from this game.
 
"Clearly as a coach I've got to figure out how we can start better, so that's on me. I need to figure out how to get the guys ready to go from the start so we stop digging ourselves these holes."
 
The Falcons (1-5-1) lost their third straight game, falling to 0-2 in conference play. Defending league champion Simon Fraser (5-1-0) improved to 2-0 in GNAC games.
 
Goals Galore
Raphael started the scoring 12:15 into the contest. Glennon dribbled through traffic in the right side of the box before slipping a pass to Raphael for a quick first-timer inside the right post from eight yards.
 
Less than five minutes later, Raphael struck again with a marvelous display of footwork. He received a low pass at the top of the box from Eric de Graff, flipped it up with his right foot, kept it in the air with his left and then lofted a right-footed shot over goalkeeper Jordan Marwood and into the top right corner at 17:12.
 
Raphael completed the hat trick with 13:41 left in the first half. An SPU defender slid from behind to knock the ball away from Mark Talisuna 40 yards from the goal. The ball squirted forward 20 yards into the SPU box, enabling the Raphael to collect it and slip a low shot under Marwood and into the right side of the goal at 31:19.
 
"We were a little unlucky on two of their goals," Collings described. "One of them, we slide tackle and send their guy in on a through ball.
 
"At the end of the day you create your own luck and our luck hasn't been there. We just have been a little bit unfortunate, but I'm so encouraged with the last 60 minutes, that's for sure."

 

The Falcons increased their offensive pressure, but had two goals disallowed. Nik Reierson sent a long free kick goalward in the 35th minute. Jose Benavides ran into the Clan goalkeeper and the ball trickled into the net, but the SPU defender was whistled for a foul and shown a yellow card.
 
In the 39th minute Mario Vukic deposited the ball into the Simon Fraser goal from close range, but was judged to have been offside after the referee consulted with his linesman.
 
SPU finally tallied one that stayed on the scoreboard, at 34:42 on a penalty kick to the lower left corner by Titus Grant. He earned the free shot from the 12-yard spot after being taken down in the left side of the box by SFU defender Lucas McIlveen.
 
That was the third goal of the season for Grant, the top figure for a Falcon.
 
Hearty Header
A second Seattle Pacific goal, initiated by a corner kick at 42:29, closed the deficit to 3-2 and that was the score at halftime.
 
Grant delivered a cross from the right corner to the far post. Ed Weise pounded an eight-yard header inside the left post for his second goal of the season.
 
Both of his goals this year came off set-piece headers, the first from a free kick versus Point Loma on Sept. 26. Weise actually scored a third goal with his head, on Sept. 7 against Chico State. But persistent lightning stopped and eventually cancelled that game, wiping his score from the record books.
 
"I've known Ed for a long time through club soccer and that's one of his assets for sure," Collings said of the sophomore defender's heading prowess.
 
"He's pretty dominant in the air. That's his second, but really third, goal on the season. When we can get service, that's always the key with a set piece, we certainly feel like there's an opportunity for him to score."
 
The halftime shot count was even at 10-10.
 
Frenzied Falcons
The Falcons nearly found an equalizer early in the second half.
 
Four minutes after intermission, Alden Massey drilled a shot from the top-left across the box. It banged off the right post. That was the first of several quality chances for the hosts, who outshot the Clan 11-4 after halftime.
 
Simon Fraser was held without an attempt for over 34 minutes. Glennon's volley at 65:21 was the visitor's first shot since the 32nd minute when they netted the third goal.
 
"We want to dictate the game," Collings said. "We have to turn games into a soccer games and we want the ball, we want to keep it, we want to force teams to chase. We did that tonight.
 
"We pinned them into their end, creating a number of good combinations and great scoring opportunities. We were rewarded with a couple goals. It really was a testament to the heart of this team. For whatever reason it's not going our way, but if we can put performances together like that for 90 minutes we're going to win a lot of games."
 
Two late SPU opportunities came up empty.
 
Alex Mejia directed a header from the center of the box, off a deep cross from Travis Swallow, but it was caught by the goalkeeper with 19 minutes remaining. Another header failed to find the mark when Jake Ferry's 80th minute try sailed wide of the left post.
 
The Clan netted an insurance goal at 74:34 on a dribbling run by Glennon into the left side of the box capped by a 14-yard shot past the onrushing goalkeeper that nestled into the right side of the goal.
 
With 6:51 left to play, Eduardo Calvo-Salinas had an opportunity to again trim SPU's deficit to one goal. But his penalty kick to the right was blocked by Bain and the follow-up shot sailed wide.
 
Upcoming Action
The SPU men remain home for a pair of games next week. They entertain Northwest Nazarene on Thursday before Montana State Billings visits on Saturday. Both games are slated for 7 p.m. starts at Interbay Stadium.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
(#24) Simon Fraser 4, at Seattle Pacific 2
 
Scoring – 1, SF, William Raphael (Connor Glennon), 12:15; 2, SF, Raphael (Eric de Graaf), 17:12; 3, SF, Raphael (unassisted), 31:19; 4, SPU, Titus Grant (penalty kick), 34:42; 5, SPU, Ed Weise (Grant), 42:29; 6, SF, Glennon (Sidrit Vukaj), 74:34.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Simon Fraser           3   1  --    4
Seattle Pacific        2   0  --    2
 
Shots – SF 11, SPU 18.
Shots on Goal -- SF 6, SPU 5.
Saves – SF 3 (Aidan Bain), SPU 2 (Jordan Marwood).
Corner Kicks – SF 4, SPU 6.
Fouls – WWU SF 17, SPU 20.
Offsides – SF 3, SPU 2.
 
Records
Simon Fraser 5-1-0,  2-0-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 1-5-1,  0-2-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Oct. 10, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.