SEATTLE – Alden Massey netted a golden goal with 5:21 left in the final overtime Saturday, lifting the 16th-ranked Seattle Pacific men to a 4-3 victory over Montana State Billings in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference soccer opener for both teams at Interbay Stadium.
 
Midway through the second 10-minute overtime period, Massey ran on to a looping through ball from Alex Mejia and dribbled around the goalkeeper on the left side of the box to free himself for a 13-yard shot that ended the game.
 
"I saw Alden get by the keeper and was just praying that he didn't miss," said SPU interim head coach Kevin Sakuda. "He's not going to miss that. Anytime he's one-v-one he's lethal. You saw all game today he was just causing so many problems on their back line."
 
That was the fourth goal of the season for the senior forward and the 14th of his career. Massey now has four game-winning scores as a Falcon.

ALDEN MASSEY GOLDEN GOAL

Those same two players connected in the 47th minute, in reverse order, to level the score at 2-2. Mejia rose to head a cross from Massey into the top right of the Saints goal from 15 yards out. A senior forward from Seattle's Roosevelt High School, Mejia registered his eighth goal in as many outings, finding the back of the net for the sixth straight game.
 
SPU (7-1-0) stretched its winning streak to four games while starting 1-0-0 in league play. The Yellowjackets dropped to 2-4-1 overall.
 
Billings led on three occasions, getting a hat trick from Halil Yilmaz. He scored in the 14th, 39th and 59th minutes and each time the Falcons responded.
 
"Credit to the guys, they showed a ton of character coming back a few times," Sakuda said. "Alden came up big when we needed it. I had a few flashbacks of the Mines game going into overtime, but the guys closed this one out so it's good."
 
Sakuda was referring to the Falcons lone loss, a 3-2 overtime setback on September 18th in their last home game. They gave up a short-handed goal in the first minute of the extra session versus Colorado School of Mines.
 
This time SPU was on the joyful side of an overtime triumph.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Yilmaz started the scoring at 13:59, taking advantage of a poor back pass by defender to finish from 16 yards in the left side of the box.
 
Travis Swallow got SPU's initial goal at 20:14, tying the game 1-1. Tyler Speer served a free kick from left flank to the far post and Jose Benavides headed the ball back to toward the center of the goal. Swallow was there for the easy tap-in, notching his third goal of the season.
 
Nifty give-and-go passing from Marvin Putu to Jeremie Briquet and back preceded a pass to Yalmiz at the top of the box. Yilmaz drilled a low shot through traffic into the lower right of the Falcons goal at 38:24.
 
SPU trailed 2-1 at halftime despite outshooting the visitors 12-5 during the opening 45 minutes.
 
The Falcons made good on their first shot after intermission, just 1-minute, 53-seconds into the second half. That tally by Mejia evened the game at 2-2.
 
Yilmaz completed his second hat trick of the season at 58:45 with a 14-yard, first-time volley off a corner kick.
 
SPU sophomore Judah Johnston forced overtime with a 74th-minute strike that forged a 3-3 tie. His 15-yard header found the right side of the SMU goal, giving Johnston his inaugural collegiate goal. Also posting a memorable milestone on the play was freshman Aaron Stapleton who was credited with his first assist.
 
Massey's heroics followed in the Falcons fourth overtime in eight outings this season. They were victorious for the third time in extended contests.
 
ALDEN MASSEY INTERVIEW

The final shot count was 20-12 in the Falcons favor and they had a slim 9-8 edge in the shots-on-goal category.
 
Goalkeeper Lars Helleren made five saves, several of them in acrobatic fashion, and his MSUB counterpart Georgios Theodoulidis also stopped five shots.
 
NEXT GAME
The Seattle Pacific men remain at home for two games next week at Interbay Stadium. They host Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Saint Martin's next Saturday (Oct. 9) at 4:30 p.m.
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 2, 2021
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at #16 Seattle Pacific 4, Montana State Billings 3 (2ot)
 
Scoring – 1, MSUB, Halil Yilmaz (unassisted) 13:59; 2, SPU, Travis Swallow (Jose Benavides, Tyler Speer), 20:14; 3, MSUB, Yilmaz (Marvin Puto, Jeremie Briquet), 38:24; 4, SPU, Alex Mejia (Alden Massey), 46:53; 5, MSUB, Yilmaz (Putu), 58:45; 6, SPU, Judah Johnston (Aaron Stapleton), 73:05; 7, Alden Massey (Mejia), 104:39.
 
                           1   2  OT  OT  --  TOTAL
Montana State Billings     2   1   0   0  --    3
Seattle Pacific            1   2   0   1  --    4
 
Shots – MSUB 12, SPU 20.
Shots on Goal – MSUB 8, SPU 9.
Saves – MSUB 5 (Georgios Theodoulidis), SPU 5 (Lars Helleren).
Corner Kicks – MSUB 3, SPU 6.
Fouls – MSUB 19, SPU 16.
Offsides – MSUB 2, SPU 6.
 
Records
Montana State Billings 2-4-1, 0-1-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 7-1-0, 1-0-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, October 7, 7:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.