LACEY, Wash. – Claire Neder tallied the first two goals just 80 seconds apart Thursday afternoon and both of them were assisted by Sophia Chilczuk, who also scored in seventh-ranked Seattle Pacific's 4-0 women's soccer victory over Saint Martin's at Saints Field.
 
All four goals came during the first half for the Falcons (6-0-1), who remained undefeated.
 
"They got it going early today and it was great," SPU coach Arby Busey said of his dynamic duo. "We just kind of fell in line behind those two and let them get the business done. Each, individually, are a handful. But when Claire and Sophia are that connected, as they were today, it makes it exponentially that much harder to try to deal with them."
 
SPU kept alive of streak of scoring at least four times in every outing this season as they have five games with four goals on the ledger and twice erupted for five goals.
 
The Falcons have outscored foes by a combined 30-4 margin.
 
Seattle Pacific completed a season sweep of the Saints, who were also blanked on April 1 in Seattle by the same 4-0 scoreline.
 
Neder netted two scores within the opening seven minutes Thursday. Her goals were near mirror-images of each other, off passes from Chilczuk, with the first recorded at 5:23 and the second at 6:43.
 
The brace increased Neder's season total to six goals, all of them coming during the last four games. She has three multi-goal games this year.
 
"Claire has looked to score more," Busey explained. "She's a pretty unselfish person in general and in the past played more as a setup player. This year she has really developed a nose for goal and has taken her opportunities well. She's been pretty lethal when she gets her chances at putting them away."

CLAIRE NEDER 1ST GOAL

Falcons' season scoring leader Chilzcuk has now amassed nine goals to complement her six assists. The senior forward found the back of the net in the 15th minute, keeping alive a season streak of notching at least one goal in every game in which she has participated.
 
With a goal in six straight outings, Chilczuk is within two of the school's scoring streak record of eight games established in 2003 by Shannon Lovejoy.
 
"It's been a fun ride to sit back and watch. She just brings so much to the table with her size, her athleticism and technical ability. Sophia is a tough one to contain," said Busey. "Sometimes those big-time goal scorers are great at finishing things, but maybe not at setting people up. That's just not Sophia's nature. In some ways it makes her that much more dangerous now because she sees the game so well and she's finding teammates in open spaces.
 
"She did a great job of getting in some dangerous spaces today and then rolling the ball across the face of the goal so that there wasn't a lot left for Claire to do."
 
The game's fourth, and final, score was an own goal as the Saints were having trouble coping with a hard, 29th-minute cross from Chloe Gellhaus.
 
 

Sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlynn Knocke picked up her second clean sheet for the Falcons, making five saves in the process. Four of those stops came after halftime.
 
The Saints nearly got on the board with at late shot, off the foot of Taylor Goodpaster. Her 25-yard blast from the left side forced Knocke to leap and bat the ball down before gathering it with 3:15 left to play.
 
"They started pushing at the end there and forced Kaitlynn to make some saves, which is great for her to get some action," Busey said. "We've got a ton of confidence in her and she's been unbelievable in practice. We don't miss a step when she goes in there and certainly the women on our team have a ton of confidence in her.
 
"There were some things for her to do today, kind of cleaning up some stuff in behind our back line and making some saves. When Kaitlynn was challenged today, she rose to that challenge."
 
Seattle Pacific shut out six of its seven opponents and didn't surrender a goal in 13 of 14 halves. The outlier came in the last game, on April 24, when Western Washington scored four times during the second half of a 4-4 double-overtime draw in Bellingham.
 
The Falcons defense recovered from that subpar outing with a return to their remarkable defensive form.
 
Ali Campigotto was credited with five saves for Saint Martin's, which was outshot by a 22-9 margin. That deficit was 12-1 after 45 minutes, but the Saints picked up their offensive pressure and were outshot just 10-8 after halftime.
 
SPU's best second-half opportunity came on a 62nd-minute header by Neder, off a cross from the left side by Ally Veenhuizen. The attempt sailed just over the crossbar, spoiling her hat trick attempt.
 
Scoring Summary
Despite not earning an assist on the play, freshman Sophie Beadle originated the opening goal, serving a long through ball from the defensive half down the right flank. Chilczuk raced to the ball and angled into the box toward the end line before sending a low pass across the goalmouth. Neder was at the far post for the first-time finish at 5:23.
 
The second goal soon followed, at 6:43, and was nearly an exact replica of the first, this time with Chloe Gellhaus initiating the action. She stole a pass 35 yards from the goal and slipped a through pass into the right side of the box. On a full sprint, Chilczuk reached the ball at the endline and delivered a low cross for the point-blank, one-timer.
 
Beadle did get onto the scoresheet with an assist on the third goal. She beat a defender on the dribble and drove just inside the right side of the box before firing the ball toward the center. Campigotto fumbled the ball and it trickled out to Chilczuk for the easy finish at 14:27

SOPHIA CHILCZUK GOAL

No Falcons received credit for the fourth goal, but Gellhaus created a sticky situation the Saints couldn't solve. She dribbled to the right edge of the box and lined a cross through the goalmouth. The ball averted the goalkeeper and caromed inside the left post off a Saints defender at 28:30.
 
Next Game
The Seattle Pacific women return home to entertain Central Washington on Saturday (May 1). Kick-off is 3:00 p.m. at Interbay Stadium.
 
"I'm excited about that one, it will be a good matchup," Busey exclaimed. "Central is always somebody who comes prepared and brings a lot of energy to the game. They play a very attractive style so it will be a fun soccer game to watch.
 
"We're growing in confidence in terms of who we are and how we go about things. That will be key for us on Saturday, to keep those things that we do well at the forefront of our minds, and lean into those things, because they've been good enough to get results thus far."
 
Spectators are not allowed to attend games this season, but fans can watch the action live online at the SPU sports YouTube page -- https://www.youtube.com/user/SPUsports
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Saints Field / Lacey, Wash.
 
#7 Seattle Pacific 4, at Saint Martin's 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Claire Neder (Sophia Chilczuk), 5:23; 2, SPU, Neder (Chilczuk, Chloe Gellhaus), 6:43; 3, SPU, Chilczuk (Sophie Beadle), 14:27; 4, SPU, own goal, 28:30.
 
                      1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific       4   0  --    4
Saint Martin's        0   0  --    0
 
Shots – SPU 22, SMU 9.
Shots on Goal – SPU 8, SMU 5.
Saves – SPU 5 (Kaitlynn Knocke), SMU 5 (Ali Campigotto).
Corner Kicks – SPU 2, SMU 1.
Fouls – SPU 7, SMU 5.
Offsides – SPU 5, SMU 0.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 6-0-1
Saint Martin's 1-10-0
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Central Washington at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, May 1, 3:00 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.