SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team welcomed Central Washington across the pass for a match at Interbay Stadium on Thursday night, as a consistent and relentless attack from the Falcons proved to be too much as they picked up a 3-1 victory over the Wildcats.
"We had a good performance and did what we needed to do to get the result," head coach Arby Busey said. "I thought we did a lot of really good things in terms of controlling the game and executing how we wanted to."
The scoring started for the Falcons in the 11th minute of the match. The ball was being worked around the outside of the 18-yard box when Toni Miranda scooted it over to Lauren Snedeker. She lined up and drilled a shot from a distance that looped over the keeper's head and into the back of the net. The Falcons led 1-0.
Another deep goal came in the 32nd minute of the match. CWU committed a foul, leading to a free kick for SPU. Miranda stood over and blasted it from 30-yards out. It screamed past the keeper to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
The Wildcats tried to claw their way back into the match coming out of halftime. In the 47th minute, Emily Darcy forced Mercedes Cullen to make one of her best saves of the season. The Falcon keeper dove to her right to knock the ball away. The Incredible save kept the Wildcats off the board.
CWU did find the back of the net in the 49th minute. From a takeaway, Darcy slotted the ball in the lower left corner to bring the match to within a goal.
"We'd take back conceding a goal early in the second half," Busy mentioned. "I thought the team did a really good job of adjusting well to that moment and regaining control of the game in that moment. Those can be transitional moments in games, but our women did a good job of putting that game back in the place it needed to be to get to get the result."
The Falcons were able to create more separation in the 61st minute. Kathryn Nyone stepped in between a pass between Wildcats to gain possession. She slipped the ball over to Sophie Beadle who gathered and turned at the top of the box. Beadle ripped a shot that scored, giving the Falcons a 3-1 advantage.
The Falcons are back at Interbay Stadium on Saturday for a match against MSU Billings at 2 p.m.
