SEATTLE – Titus Grant scored midway through the first half and Alex Mejia added a second-half strike Thursday, leading the 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific men to a 2-0 soccer victory over No. 22 Regis in the home opener at Interbay Stadium.
 
Grant picked up his second straight game-winning tally, following his Sept. 4 golden goal in a 1-0 win at Chico State. This time, he finished from point-blank range in the 20th minute off a beautiful feed from Aidan Thrall.
 
SPU's other senior forward doubled the lead in the 66th minute, rising above a crowd to head home a cross from Alden Massey. That was the team-leading third goal of the season for Mejia, a product of Seattle's Roosevelt High School.
 
"A great goal from Titus," exclaimed SPU interim head coach Kevin Sakuda. "Half of it is just making sure you run in and put yourself in the box. Mejia had another big-time header. He's just such a physical presence up there. Alden came in and made an impact right away with a great ball to Alex."

ALEX MEJIA GOAL

The Falcons (3-0-0) kept their perfect record intact under Sakuda, who assumed the head coaching post in August. They recorded a second straight shutout.
 
"The boys were great today, so I'm pretty happy," Sakuda said. "It was a big win against a good Regis team. Going to California and winning two was great, but we wanted to build off of that and try to get a result here.
 
"Credit to the guys, they battled and made it difficult for Regis all night. Overall, we played well, created some chances and could have had a couple more goals."
 
Senior shot-stopper Lars Helleren made three saves en route to the fourth clean sheet of his career. Cooper Erickson had five saves for the Rangers (3-1-0), who were outshot by a 16-7 count.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
• Left back Aidan Thrall intercepted a pass from a Regis defender 35 yards from the goal on the left flank. He dribbled into the box, angling toward the goal before slipping a pass across the top of the 6-yard box to Titus Grant who sprinted to the ball for a left-footed finish at 19:59.
 
"We've been talking about wanting to press teams higher up the field," Sakuda described. "Aidan stepped in and picked one off and had the composure to slip it across to Titus. He causes so many problems for the opponent. He's great to have either higher up the field or as an outside back."
 
• Right back Nic Reierson initiated the second SPU score, dribbling in the Rangers half before finding Alden Massey open on the ring wing. Massey took a touch before serving a brilliant cross into the box that Alex Mejia rose to head into the Regis goal from six yards out at 65:40.

AIDAN THRALL INTERVIEW

THROW-INS
• SPU's dynamic senior forward duo has been efficient as Alex Mejia has three goals on just eight shots this season while Titus Grant has two tallies in five tries.
 
• Four Falcons defenders were on the field for the full 90 minutes, including goalkeeper Lars Helleren along with defenders Evan Aune, Nik Reierson and Ed Weise.
 
• Alden Massey topped SPU with three shots while four of his teammates each had four attempts.
 
• The Falcons increased their all-time series lead over Regis to 7-1-1.
 
NEXT GAME
The Seattle Pacific men remain home to host Colorado School of Mines on Saturday. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium.

NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at (#11) Seattle Pacific 2, (#22) Regis 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Titus Grant (Aidan Thrall), 19:59; 2, SPU, Alex Mejia (Alden Massey, Nik Reierson), 65:40.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Regis                  0   0  --    0
Seattle Pacific        1   1  --    2
 
Shots – Regis 7, SPU 16.
Shots on Goal – Regis 3, SPU 7.
Saves – Regis 5 (Cooper Erickson), SPU 3 (Lars Helleren).
Corner Kicks – Regis 1, SPU 7.
Fouls – Regis 15, SPU 25.
Offsides – Regis 0, SPU 1.
 
Records
Regis 3-1-0
Seattle Pacific 3-0-0
 
Next SPU Men's Soccer Game
Colorado Mines at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, September 18, 7:00 p.m.
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.