SEATTLE –Chloe Gellhaus netted an early score and assisted on a late goal Thursday while goalkeeper Riley Travis recorded her fourth shutout, leading 25th-ranked Seattle Pacific to a 2-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer victory over Simon Fraser at Interbay Stadium.
 
The Falcons (7-1-0) won the battle of second-place teams, improving their GNAC record to 4-1-0. They posted the team's sixth clean sheet of the season and are outscoring opponents by a combined 22-2 margin overall.
 
"It was a good performance tonight," said SPU coach Arby Busey. "We had a really good opponent who challenged us in a lot of ways. We solved a lot of those challenges and came away with a nice comfortable shutout and got a couple good goals in the process."
 
Simon Fraser (2-5-1), from Burnaby, British Columbia, dropped to 3-2-0 in league play and had its three-game winning streak stopped.
 
RILEY TRAVIS INTERVIEW

SPU compiled an 8-3 shot advantage during the first half, fueled by three attempts from Gellhaus. Two of her tries came in a three-minute span early in the contest. The first traveled just wide of the right post and the other went wide left.
 
The junior midfielder found the target on her next shot, at 14:01, slipping a first-timer inside the right post off a low pass from Claire Neder.
 
"Chloe was all over the place today, in a good way," said Busey. "She made plays, showed up in the right moments and influenced the game in a hugely positive way as we grown accustomed to with her. It was great to see her find a goal and get rewarded for a lot of the work that she put into the game."
 
That was the second score of the season for Gellhaus and the 16th of her career.
 
Neder set up the goal after a long dribbling run down the left sideline. She angled into the box and slid a low pass across the box to Gellhaus.
 
A senior forward, Neder has four assists this season and 19 for her career. Six of those assists set up teammates for game-winning goals.
 
At 78:49, Blakeley tallied her first goal of the season. Gellhaus initiated the action with a long pass to the left wing for Lauren Forster, who dribbled around a defender and into the box before finding her teammate near the far post. Blakeley tapped the ball in at the goal line for her second career score.
 
Travis was credited with four saves en route to the 16th shutout of her career.

JACQUELINE BLAKELEY GOAL

Madison Ibale is the only player on the SPU backline to start every game on defense. Mariah Alexander had started the first six games before being sidelined with an injury. She was replaced in that central defender role by freshman Landrey McCann.
 
"We've got some big-time leaders back there," Busey said. "Riley holds us together from the back and Madison has been around and been through the wars a lot. They have been working really hard and really well together.
 
"That's not to say that we don't miss Mariah by any stretch of the imagination. But Landry has stepped up and been phenomenal, playing well beyond her years."
 
Kelsey Fisher made six saves for Simon Fraser, which was on the short end of a 17-7 shot disparity.
 
NEXT GAME
The Seattle Pacific women remain home to face their rival on Saturday night. The 25th-ranked Falcons host No. 6 Western Washington for a 7:00 p.m. clash at Interbay Stadium.
 
"I expect a great game. It's two really good soccer teams that know each other well," Busey said.
 
"It provides a great opportunity for both Western Washington and us to take a little bit of an inventory of where we're at in the middle of the season here and get a playoff-atmosphere type of game. It will be really fun on Saturday night."
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at (#25) Seattle Pacific 2, Simon Fraser 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Chloe Gellhaus (Claire Neder), 14:01; 2, SPU, Jacqueline Blakeley (Lauren Forster, Chloe Gellhaus), 78:49.
 
                        1   2  --  TOTAL
Simon Fraser            0   0  --    0
Seattle Pacific         1   1  --    2
 
Shots – SF 7, SPU 17.
Shots on Goal – SF 4, SPU 8.
Saves – SF 6 (Kelsey Fisher), SPU 4 (Riley Travis).
Corner Kicks – SF 1, SPU 6.
Fouls – SF 9, SPU 8.
Offsides – SF 0, SPU 4.
 
Records
Simon Fraser 2-5-1, 3-2-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 7-1-0,  4-1-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
(#6) Western Washington at (#25) Seattle Pacific
Saturday, October 9, 7:00 p.m.
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.