• STAT SHEET (pdf)

NAMPA, Idaho – Sierra Smith struck early and freshman substitute AJ DePinto added a late first-half goal as Seattle Pacific coasted to victory in its Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer opener, beating Northwest Nazarene, 3-0, at NNU Field on a sunny Thursday afternoon.
 
The Falcons (3-4-0, 1-0-0) held the Nighthawks without a shot on-target in the first 79 minutes for their second shutout. Northwest Nazarene (3-4-0, 0-1-0) had entered the game averaging a GNAC-high 2.17 goals.
 
It was the first three-goal attack of the season for SPU, which finished with 22 shots, including 11 on-goal. Sophia Chilczuk scored the third goal and led the way with six shots, the five others forcing saves.
 
"Great way for us to open up conference play," exclaimed SPU coach Arby Busey. "It's a difficult place to come and get a win against a quality opponent. A really good team victory today for us."
 
"We all felt like goals were coming. We kept believing that if we did the good things that we did in those first few games, that eventually they would turn into goals. Today we got rewarded."
 
Northwest Nazarene, after winning three in a row, has now lost three in a row. It was the first time NNU has been shut-out in six games.
 
Playing on the road for the third successive match, by halftime the Falcons nevertheless found themselves sitting atop a two-goal cushion for the first time this season. A high press from the forward line helped produce the opening goal and a deft combination from a long free kick doubled the advantage near the end of the first period.
 
Thanks to the press, SPU peppered the NNU goal with four shots in the first five minutes and, following a failed clearance, it was Smith steering her second goal in three games low to the right corner from 14 yards in the sixth minute.
 
Nighthawks keeper Alexis Montoya was kept busy from the outset. She dived to tip Chilczuk's top-of-the-box try against the right post a minute before Smith's strike. The Falcons fired nine shots by the 22nd minute, several as a result of NNU turnovers in their own end. Montoya made six first-half saves in all, but had no chance against DePinto.
 
Following a foul called just inside the SPU attacking half, Toni Miranda drove a long ball to the top of the box. Asia Cayetano's header lifted it over the last line of defense, landing conveniently in the path of an onrushing DePinto, who cracked it first-time from 12 yards past Montoya at 43:46. It was the Portland freshman's first collegiate goal. She came off the bench 10 minutes earlier, just after Miranda's entrance.
 
"In the last couple minutes of the first half it was great to kind of punctuate what was a really good half for us," Busey said. "AJ got her first goal. She did a great job of getting onto the end of a flick from one of her classmates. Toni Miranda gave a great flick of a free kick and AJ put it in the net. It was really a good sequence from those two in that moment to finish the half and give us a bit more of a cushion."
 
The Falcons started the second half on the front foot as well, with Montoya coming off her line in the first 20 seconds to thwart a low cross into the crease.
 
Kaylie Nelson's day between the posts was quiet for more than an hour, her first true test coming in the 72nd minute to break-up a pass in her 6-yard box.
 
Chilczuk put the game out of reach with 15:21 remaining. She settled a right-wing cross and scored from 9 yards. Chilczuk, who also scored in last season's win over NNU, was the team's top scorer as a sophomore in 2018 with eight goals.
 
"Sophia worked her socks off today, she was phenomenal in terms of the load that she carried for us," Busey described. "Probably not going to be a mantle-piece highlight film goal. She's had her share of those, but today's wasn't one of them.
 
"It was pure grit and heart and effort that touched the ball across the line on a cross today. So well deserved because she is somebody that we count on to really carry the game for us. She did a great job of it today."
 
Chloe Gelhaus nearly got a brace as a substitute, with sizzling shots near the end of each half. In the 43rd minute she shot just past the right post from 19 yards. In the 84th minute, on the end of a long counterattacking run, Gelhaus fired toward the right corner only to have Montoya lunge to parry, then gather the loose ball on her second attempt. Gelhaus was credited with five shots.
 
Nelson's first career shutout did not come easily in the end. She leaped to tip over the bar a 25-yard free kick by Brooke Felzien in the 80th minute, and in the waning minutes she batted out Felzien's 15-yard drive heading toward the upper left corner.
 
"Our defense was really solid today," Busey said. "NNU has some dangerous players along the front line. They made life very hard for those good players and kept them from getting quality looks at goal.
 
"They started to push at the end and sniffed out some opportunities and Kaylie was in the right spot to make a few saves to keep that clean sheet for us"
 
SPU is now undefeated in its last seven conference-opening games with a 6-0-1 mark during that span. The last loss was 2-1 at Montana State Billings in 2012. Seattle Pacific is now 32-3-0 versus Northwest Nazarene.
 
The Falcons were without the services of starting defender Mariah Alexander, who is serving a one-game suspension after being sent-off in Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss versus Cal Poly Pomona.
 
Next Game
The Seattle Pacific women remain on the road, visiting Lacey, Wash. on Saturday at 3 p.m. for an encounter with Saint Martin's. They play their first GNAC home game on Oct. 3 versus Concordia-Portland. Kick-off is 4:30 p.m. as the opener of a doubleheader with the men's team at Interbay Stadium.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, September 26, 2019
NNU Soccer Field / Nampa, Idaho
 
Seattle Pacific 3, at Northwest Nazarene 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Sierra Smith (unassisted), 5:14; 2, SPU, AJ DePinto (Asia Cayetano, Toni Miranda), 43:46; 3, SPU, Sophia Chilczuk (unassisted), 74:39.
 
                        1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific         2   1  --    3
Northwest Nazarene      0   0  --    0
 
Shots – SPU 22, NNU 11.
Shots on Goal -- SPU 11, NNU 2.
Saves –SPU 2 (Kaylie Nelson), NNU 8 (Alexis Montoya).
Corner Kicks – SPU 3, NNU 8.
Fouls – SPU 13, NNU 9.
Offsides – SPU 0, NNU 1.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 3-4-0, 1-0-0 GNAC
Northwest Nazarene 3-4-0, 0-1-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's
Saturday, Sept. 28, 3:00 p.m. PDT
Saints Field / Lacey, Wash.