BILLINGS, Mont. – Jose Benavides put 14th-ranked Seattle Pacific in front, but Montana State Billings found a late equalizer as the two men's soccer sides finished level at 1-1 in cold, blustery conditions for a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Yellowjacket Field on Saturday.
 
The Falcons (10-2-1, 4-1-1 GNAC) returned from a two-week break and their first GNAC loss and found it difficult to get a much-needed second goal, despite having a strong wind at their backs in the second half of regulation and first of two scoreless overtime periods. They finished with a 17-13 advantage in shots, although only four were on-frame.
 
Benavides scored his first goal of the season and the second of his career 16 minutes after the interval. On a free kick from defender Nik Reierson, he nodded home from 4 yards at the far post. SPU had opportunities to add-on, however Billings held on to get even.
 
When goalkeeper Lars Helleren rushed off his line but was unable to collect the high corner kick from Marvin Putu, Mathias Kjolner had an open net from 8 yards in the 82nd minute.
 
 

"Billings is a good team, they made it difficult on us," said SPU interim head coach Kevin Sakuda. "When we went up 1-0, we had some opportunities to increase that lead and we didn't take advantage of it. We conceded a goal and obviously weren't able to find a second."

Seattle Pacific finished with advantages of 17-13 in shots and 8-5 on corners. The kickoff temperature of 43 degrees dropped into the thirties after halftime. SPU had won seven straight before being clipped by Simon Fraser, 1-0, in its last outing Oct. 16.
 
Now winless in four (0-3-1), Montana State Billings (3-7-2, 1-4-1 GNAC) also extended SPU to overtime in their first meeting on Oct. 2, a game the Falcons won, 4-3.
 
FIRST HALF SUMMARY
With both sides coming off two-week breaks, there were signs of sluggishness to open the match. Once SPU earned its first corner kick, Alden Massey found Travis Swallow at the near post, but his header flashed just wide left.
 
 

MSU Billings twice nearly capitalized on turnovers deep in the Falcons' end. Halil Yilmaz found himself with space in the box, but his try was blocked, then the follow-up by Valdemar Vogt was saved by a Lars Helleren in the 18^th minute.
 
Ten minutes before the break, Nik Reierson's ball over the top send Alex Mejia clear only to have Mejia, along versus the Yellowjackets keeper, put his shot well over the bar.
 
The visitors held advantages of 8-7 in shots and 5-2 on corners.
 
SECOND HALF SUMMARY
Seattle Pacific started the second half with a brisk wind at its back, dropping temperatures with rain showers and commitment to pressing higher upfield. Following a couple promising forays by Massey and GNAC scoring leader Mejia, the Falcons got their goal. An in-swinging free kick by Reierson from the left corner carried over Swallow's head and fell into the path of Benavides who headed it home from 4 yards.
 
SPU had opportunities to double the lead, the best being Massey's one-on-one situation with Billings keeper Connor Trapp that skidded just wide left from 16 yards. Moments later, Massey's low cross somehow missed two runners at the back post.
 
The Yellowjackets expectedly brought the pressure for the final 10 minutes of regulation. Aidan Thrall recovered to block Ty Vohland's attempted equalizer, but a corner kick in the  with 8:02 left in regulation resulted in Kjolner nodding into an open net after Helleren mis-timed his rush to cut out the high ball.
 
OVERTIME SUMMARY
Neither side mustered much of a sustained attack in extra time, but SPU demonstrated a will to get the winner in the dying minutes. Titus Grant had all four of the game's shots in the final period, the strongest coming in the 105th minute. Following a Billings turnover, he was at the top of the box facing Trapp and beat him, only to see the shot skid wide left. Two more back-to-back tries in 108th minute sail high.
 
"We had some moments in the first half, second half and then both overtimes where we probably could have done better with some chances," Sakuda said. "We have to learn from this, regroup quickly and then get ready for Simon Fraser next week."
 
NEXT GAME
The Seattle Pacific men return home for their next two games. The Falcons host Simon Fraser in GNAC play on Thursday. Kick-off is 7:00 p.m. at Interbay Stadium. The final regular-season home game is Nov. 6 vs. Western Washington, also at 7 p.m.
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Yellowjacket Field, Billings, Mont.
 
Seattle Pacific 1, at Montana State Billings 1 (2ot)
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Jose Benavides (Nik Reierson) 61:59; 2, MSUB, Mathias Kjolner (Marvin Putu) 81:58.
 
                    1   2  OT  OT  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific     0   1   0   0  --    1
MSU Billings        0   1   0   0  --    1
 
Shots – SPU 17, MSUB 13.
Shots on Goal – SPU 5, MSUB 7.
Saves – SPU 6 (Lars Helleren), MSUB 4 (Connor Trapp).
Corner Kicks – SPU 8, MSUB 5.
Fouls – SPU 11, MSUB 17.
Offsides – SPU 7, MSUB 3.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 10-2-1,  4-1-1 GNAC
MSU Billings 3-7-2  1-4-1 GNAC
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, November 4, 7:00 p.m.
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.