SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team played a complete match on Saturday, handing Saint Martin's 3-1 at Interbay Stadium.
"I thought the energy was good right from the start, and we maintained it throughout that first half," head coach Arby Busey said. "I thought we did some good things in the first half. We moved the ball well and put a lot of pressure on our opponent tonight. They changed systems in the second half, but our players made those adjustments."
The Falcons controlled possession throughout most of the match. Sophie Beadle was working to create a scoring opportunity for the Falcons. She drove toward the six-yard box and was taken down by a Saints defender. Marissa Bankey stepped forward to take the penalty kick. She deposited it in the back of the net to put the Falcons up 1-0 in the 14th minute.
In the 34th minute, Bankey stood over a free kick that she passed to Kathryn Nyone on the right side of the field. Nyone made a move to make her defender miss, freeing up enough space for her to send the ball into the box. It found the head of Toni Miranda, who scored her first goal of the season on the play. The Falcons led 2-0.
The scoring continued in the second half. Lauren Forster sent the ball over to Maya Parman in the top left corner of the 18-yard box. Parman passed to Jacqueline Blakeley, who sent a bouncing shot into the left side of the goal from nine yards out to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead. It was Blakeley's second goal in as many games.
Lauren Snedeker, Chloe Gellhaus, and the rest of the Falcon defense played well. Mercedes Cullen made four saves in 74 minutes in goal for SPU. The Saints got on the board in the 81st minute, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Falcons.
"It was a good weekend," Busey added. "First conference matches at home, and we did a good job of defending our home turf. We were able to rebound from a result that didn't go our way last week. It was great to build momentum, and get ourselves on a role ahead of a tough week coming up. This positions us to have a great week of training and go back on the road and face some tough opposition."
The Falcons travel to Burnaby, B.C. to take on Simon Fraser on Thursday at 5 p.m.
