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BILLINGS, Mont. – Alex Mejia scored two second-half goals as Seattle Pacific pulled away from Montana State Billings, 4-1, for a third straight win in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game on Thursday afternoon at Yellowjacket Soccer Field.
 
Under a bright blue sky, the white-clad Falcons (6-9-1, 5-6-0 GNAC) also got goals in the opening  half from Mario Vukic and Alden Massey in their penultimate match of the regular season. Their win streak is the longest in over a year and has featured 10 goals scored.
 
"I'm really pleased with the discipline we had today. The last couple games we've taken what teams have given us and we've been able to expose teams with some things," said SPU coach Mark Collings. "The biggest thing has been finishing. We didn't have a ton of shots on goal, but we're finishing the opportunities that we're getting. Earlier in the year we were getting opportunities and not finishing."
 
"Defensively we've been a lot more solid. I'm certainly not pleased conceding the goal right after we scored, but from there on out our defense was a lot better. Overall a really good performance at a tough place to play. Billings has had good year, so coming over here and getting a win is great."
 
After tying the match early on, MSUB (8-9-2, 5-6-1 GNAC) lost its fourth straight. Although there had been snow in Billings earlier this week, temperatures were in the low 50s at kickoff.

 

Massey put the visitors in front for good in the 26th minute, taking Jake Williams' long throw from the left, wheeling on a defender and clipping a low, 12-yard shot into the right corner.
 
"To get that second goal was huge. With how this league is, anytime you can get momentum going your way it's important," Collings said. "At halftime we talked about how important the next goal was and fortunately we got one really early in the second half. From there on out it just felt like we were really on our front foot.
 
"We did a good job of closing the game out. The growth that we've shown over the last couple weeks is really important for our program. I'm really happy for the players."
 
In the 38th minute Mejia sent a header off the right post and across the face of goal.
 
Seattle Pacific has been involved in six games where the teams combined for five or more scores, and won four of them, including its previous outing, a 4-2 home victory over Saint Martin's. Mejia's brace was the first of his career, and his third and fourth strikes of the season came less than six minutes apart.
 
A junior from Seattle's Roosevelt High School, Mejia was positioned on the backline for the majority of the season. He was moved from defender to forward three weeks ago.
 
"Playing Alex at centerback, clearly I didn't know what I was doing," Collings joked. "Putting him up front has changed our team. He has played at a really high level for us as a striker.
 
"He's really hitting his stride. It's unfortunate that the season is coming to a close, but certainly it builds a lot of excitement for us moving forward."
 
Mejia's first goal came from short range on Sam Malloch's assist less than two minutes into the second period. Mejia then broke the game open in the 53rd minute, converting a rapid counter-attack by volleying in Massey's ball into the crease from 4 yards. Vukic, who played Massey down the right side of the box, was also credited with an assist.
 
The two teams exchanged goals 66 seconds apart to open the scoring. Vukic had missed a golden opportunity at point-blank range in the fourth minute, however with his back to goal Vukic redirected Massey's pass inside the left post from 8 yards at 17:09 for his fifth goal.
 
No sooner had the Falcons finished celebrating and the Yellowjackets were attacking from the restart.
 
Shantik Bedrosian drifted into open space 10 yards out on the left and once his teammates found him, he drilled it past Lars Helleren in the 19th minute. SPU, which had lost to MSU Billings on a late Bedrosian penalty kick a month ago, has yet to post a shutout this season but is 4-0-1 when scoring first.
 
SPU finished with a 10-8 edge in shots. Helleren's biggest save came off an 18-yard bullet from Christian Thode in the 57th minute. Cam Welty relieved Helleren for the final 10 minutes, making his second appearance in goal.
 
Two of the Falcons' three consecutive wins have been on the road. They finish the regular season on Saturday at Northwest Nazarene, the GNAC cellar-dweller.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Yellowjacket Soccer Field / Billings, Montana
 
Seattle Pacific 4, at Montana State Billings 1
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Mario Vukic (Alden Massey), 17:09; 2, MSUB, Shantik Bedrosian (Brady Tesch) 18:15; 3, SPU Massey (Jake Williams) 23:30; 4, SPU, Alex Mejia (Sam Malloch) 46:55; 5, SPU, Mejia (Massey, Vukic) 52:22.
 
                            1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific             2   2  --    4
Montana State Billings      1   0  --    1
 
Shots – SPU 10, MSUB 8.
Saves –SPU 3 (Lars Helleren 3/79:45, Cam Welty 0/10:15), MSUB 2 (Jessy Martin).
Corner Kicks – SPU 2, MSUB 4.
Fouls – SPU 10, MSUB 10.
Offsides – SPU 1, MSUB 1.
 
Cautions – MSUB: Shantik Bedrosian 42:51, Noah Runsvold 86:12
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 6-9-1, 5-6-0 GNAC
MSU Billings 8-9-2, 5-6-1 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Saturday, Nov. 16, 3:00 p.m. PST
NNU Soccer Field / Nampa, Idaho