LOS ANGELES – Matthew Coleman's 79th-minute liner from long range accounted for the lone goal Thursday night as eighth-seeded Colorado State Pueblo eliminated No. 9 seed Seattle Pacific from the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament with a 1-0 first-round decision at University Stadium.
 
Coleman got the game-winner with his only goal of the season. He raced to reach a pass from the left, 32 yards from the SPU goal. Coleman took a touch, allowing the ball to twice pop off the ground several inches before delivering a volley that nicked off defender Demian Alvarez before bounding once on its way into the right side of the goal at 78:02.
 
The ball managed to bounce under the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Lars Helleren, who was unable to prevent it from popping back up and across the goal line.
 
"Soccer can be a brutal sport sometimes. They've got nothing to hold their heads down about. They were great, they worked hard," said SPU interim head coach Kevin Sakuda. "I didn't think there was going to be a ton of goals. You play in big games like that and you tell the boys it's about making plays at times.
 
"They were a little fortunate with the deflection for the goal, but there were some moments that we had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of."
 
COLORADO STATE PUEBLO GOAL

A senior who is planning to return next season, Helleren was the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was credited with four saves.
 
Garret Wild stopped seven shots in goal for Pueblo to complete his 10th clean sheet and the team's 13th shutout overall.
 
The victorious Thunderwolves (15-5-2), ranked No. 24 nationally, advance to the second round for a matchup with top seed Cal State LA on Saturday night. The host Golden Eagles are ranked No. 6 nationally.
 
SPU saw its season end with a 12-4-2 record. The 24th-ranked Falcons suffered back-to-back setbacks for the first time all year, following a similar 1-0 loss at Northwest Nazarene that concluded their regular season.
 
The Falcons didn't go down without a fight. After Pueblo controlled the first half, compiling a 7-1 shot advantage, SPU came out swinging after intermission.
 
SECOND HALF SUMMARY
Seattle Pacific reeled off five unanswered shots in the opening 15 minutes of the second half to dramatically reverse the run of play.
 
"We didn't make a ton of changes at halftime. We talked about some different ways we thought we could solve how they were defending us," Sakuda explained. "It felt like we were a little bit nervous to start, and were under it a little bit from the beginning.
 
"It just took us a little while to settle down and once we settled, we were better at creating chances and had some opportunities. It's just a frustrating one and I feel for the boys."
 
The Falcons forged an early chance just 90 seconds after halftime. Alex Mejia fired a shot from the top of the box that forced the Wild to bat the ball down before scrambling to collect it. Mejia, the GNAC Player of the Year and leading scorer with 14 goals, was limited to two shots.
 
In the 57th minute a cross from the right flank found Titus Grant sprinting toward the 6-yard box for a first-timer that was saved. Not thirty seconds expired before Alden Massey delivered a low, 20-yard shot that Wild dove to stop near the left post.
 
A dangerous Falcons foray occurred in the 60th minute when Travis Swallow nodded a close-range header toward the ground that was snared at the left post by the goalkeeper. Swallow generated another opportunity in the 77th minute, directing a low, 28-yard drive that Wild managed to push past the left post for a corner kick.
 
TRAVIS SWALLOW 77TH-MINUTE NEAR MISS

The game's next shot proved decisive as Pueblo capitalized on a counter-attack for a goal. That secured the school record-tying 15th win for CSUP, matching the feat of the 1999 squad that finished with a 15-5-1 record.
 
The first-round victory came in the NCAA Tournament debut for Pueblo which advanced to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship game to earn its inaugural playoff invitation.
 
The Falcons continued to passionately pursue an equalizer, but never found one. They created two late changes.
 
Nik Reierson had a shot blocked with 81 seconds remaining. The last-gasp effort came after Reierson served a long ball deep into the goalmouth. The ball caromed outside the 18-yard box to Alvarez, whose first-time volley carried a few feet wide of the left post as time expired.
 
The final shot count gave an 11-10 edge to Pueblo. But the Falcons produced a 9-4 second-half advantage and were more accurate, with a 7-5 edge in total shots on goal.
 
 

FIRST HALF SUMMARY
Just 18 seconds into the contest, the Thunderwolves created a quality chance. Josua Hall's hard, 17-foot blast from out front banged off the crossbar and rebounded all the way to the left edge of the box.
 
A minute later Pueblo again came close. Nick Burgess got a head to a left-side free kick that carried inches high of the crossbar.
 
The Falcons held CSUP shot-less from the 17th minute until the 42nd before a late offensive flurry ensued. Pueblo fired three quality attempts over the final four minutes of the half.
 
The first was a bicycle kick by Hall from the top of the 6-yard box that Helleren routinely smothered at the right side of his goal. Hall struck again half-a-minute later with another bicycle, but this one traveled wide to the left.
 
Burgess sent another shot goalward with just over a minute left in the period, but Helleren was up to the challenge and corralled the attempt.
 
SPU was credited with a shot in the fifth minute from outside back Reierson on the right flank that may have just been a speculative serve into the box. Either way, Wild easily gathered the ball for his only save before halftime.
 
That would prove to be the only attempt of the half for the Falcons against a stingy Pueblo defense that surrendered just 15 goals in 21 games backed by Wild's stellar 0.69 goals against average.
 
The halftime shot count was 7-1 in the Thunderwolves favor and neither team earned a corner kick. The only other time SPU was limited to one shot in a half this season came in the first half of a 1-0 loss at Simon Fraser on Oct. 16.
 

SO LONG SENIORS
The season-ending loss is made more painful by the fact the Falcons have a large group of departing players. Eight of them were honored at the Nov. 6 Senior Night ceremony prior to their final game at Interbay Stadium.
 
The list of seniors who won't return next season includes Musa Ali, Jose Benavides, Jake Ferry, Titus Grant, Jordan Greenshield, Alex Mejia, Nik Reierson and Travis Swallow.
 
"Of all the guys, I feel for the seniors because they've been an amazing group. Not just as soccer players, but as human beings, as leaders," said Sakuda. "They've set a great example for the younger guys as far as what it looks like to be and SPU player, what we expect from our men at SPU."
 
COLLEGE MEN'S SOCCER
NCAA Division II Tournament -- First Round
Thursday, November 18, 2021
University Stadium / Los Angeles, Calif.
 
(#24) Colorado State Pueblo 1, (#22) Seattle Pacific 0
 
Scoring – 1, CSUP, Matthew Coleman (Carlos Espinoza), 78:02.
 
                          1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific          0   0  --    0
Colorado State Pueblo    0   1  --    1
 
Shots – SPU 10, CSUP 11.
Shots on Goal – SPU 7, CSUP 5.
Saves – SPU 4 (Lars Helleren), CSUP 7 (Garret Wild).
Corner Kicks – SPU 3, CSUP 1.
Fouls – SPU 11, CSUP 14.
Offsides – SPU 4, CSUP 2.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 12-4-2
Colorado State Pueblo 15-5-2