SEATTLE – The goals still haven't come for the Seattle Pacific men's soccer team.
But the shutouts keep on coming.
Senior goalkeeper
Lars Helleren came up with two saves on Saturday afternoon as the Falcons played to a 0-0 non-conference tie against Sonoma State at Interbay Stadium.
It was the second scoreless draw for SPU in a span of 48 hours. They also went 0-0 against Chico State in the season opener on Thursday night.
"Like I said on Thursday, any time we get a shutout, we're going to be happy with that," Falcons head coach
Kevin Sakuda said. "We're always trying to evaluate the entire performance and there were moments when we probably could have been better in the attacking third, whether it was service or movement or trying to get something out of it. Obviously it's difficult to score goals and we're going to keep working it."
Although the Falcons (0-0-2) were kept off the scoreboard, they were not without dangerous chances against Sonoma, which also played to its second scoreless tie of the week. (The Seawolves went 0-0 at Western Washington on Thursday.).
The first of those came with 3:30 left in the first half off a corner kick from the left wing side buy
Aidan Drought. The ball sailed toward the far post where
Ed Weise got a touch on it, only to see it cleared off the line.
Then with 33 minutes remaining in the game, Sonoma goalkeeper Reinier ter Riet saved a hard 18-yard shot by Falcons freshman forward
Orlando Erazo.
But SPU's best chance came with just more than 23 minutes left in the game. From the left line of the penalty area, 8 yards up from the goal line, senior midfielder
Tyler Speer drove a free kick toward the top of the 6-yard box.
Alden Massey drilled a shot that ter Riet got his fingertips on, and it bounced hard off the crossbar.
The ball stayed in the area, and just a few seconds later, junior forward Judah Johnson had a hard 10-yard shot that ter Riet also saved.
"Last year, I think we relied a lot on our senior class. In some ways, we're trying to figure out who is going to step up," Sakuda said. "We've got a ton of depth. On the coaching side, we're just trying to figure out the right combinations and who works well together and just add a little more consistency. Our buildout has been fairly good. It's (a question of) can we be a little more dangerous when we get in those spaces?"
Sonoma had an 11-8 edge in shots. The biggest threat by the Seawolves came with just less than 29 minutes to pay. Cam Fisk ripped one from the top left corner of the 6, but it was blocked. The rebound came out to Michael Gray, and he sent it goalward, but Helleren leaped to stop it.
The Falcons will have some time off before returning to action next Saturday.
"It's kind of nice to have an extended week and try to get our bodies right," Sakuda said. "We'll put ourselves in front of goal a little bit this week and try to clean up some finishing and some movements in the final third, and keep the defensive side of things strong."
BY THE NUMBERS
-- This was the sixth straight time SPU has played Sonoma State and Chico State to start the season. It is the first time both games have ended in ties.
-- The Falcons are now 97-44-23 all time against teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
UP NEXT
The Falcons will play host to No. 17-ranked West Texas A&M next Saturday at Interbay Stadium. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m., and it will the second half of a doubleheader. The SPU women face Chico State at 4:00 p.m.
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
Seattle Pacific 0, Sonoma State 0
Scoring – None.
Shots – SSU 11, SPU 8.
Saves – SSU (ter Riet) 5, SPU (Helleren) 2.
Corner kicks – SSU 6, SPU 4.
Fouls – SSU 22, SPU 11.
Offsides – SSU 4, SPU 2
Cautions – SSU: English 25:30, Vega 33:41, Rohane 53:16. SPU: Hristov 42:29, A. Thrall 53:25.
Ejections – None.
Attendance – 200.
Records
Seattle Pacific 0-0-2. Sonoma State 0-0-2.
Next game
No. 17 West Texas A&M at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Sept. 3 / 7:00 p.m.
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
