SEATTLE – First they came back.
Then they hung on.
Brady Reed,
Lucas Witthauer, and
Isaac Ketcham scored in a 16½-minute span of the second half on Thursday night as the No. 15-ranked Seattle Pacific Falcons pulled out a 3-2 victory in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer match at Interbay Stadium.
SPU (9-2-1, 2-1-1—7 points GNAC) bounced back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to hand the Wolves (5-2-1, 2-1-1—7 points) their first conference loss. The result also created a three-way tie for second place between those two teams and Northwest Nazarene (2-1-1 after Thursday's 3-1 victory against Saint Martin's).
Simon Fraser (3-0-2—11 points) remains on top after Thursday's 4-2 victory against Western Washington.
FROM COACH KEVIN SAKUDA
"Credit to our guys. The second half after the first 25 or 30 minutes, we were very good," Sakuda said. "We had a ton of control and we were sort of able to stack possessions and scored three quick goals. They got one back, and credit to them, they stuck with it.
"The last 15 minute were a little dicey, but we were able to close it out."
As Sakuda saw it, the second 45 minutes was simply a matter of the Falcons finishing what they started.
"I felt like in the first half, we had control and were getting into good spaces, but not really executing in the final third," he said. "When those moments came in the second half, we were able to put some chances away. I was really proud of the group: They worked hard, they pressed, and the won the ball in high spaces."
Sakuda said tight ones like this probably will become the norm from now through the end of the season.
"These games now, the margins are so thin," he said. "We obviously would have loved to close that game out at 3-1. But these are lessons that we grow from and learn. Western Oregon has had a ton of success over the years, and last year, we were tied with them (for first place in the final standings), then they beat us in the tournament final in overtime. So for our guys, this was good to get over that hump a little bit."
HOW IT HAPPENED
--A clearance kick by Falcons goalkeeper
Willem Ficek was held in by the Wolves in their offensive half. The ball wound up on the foot of Ignacio Bandan, he took it to the top center of the penalty area and blasted a shot into the back left corner at the 21:07 mark.
--Reed, the current GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, tied it for the Falcons at 53:51.
Rafael Lucio, playing at the top right corner of the box, lofted a high target ball toward the far post. Reed, completely unmarked, went up for a header that flew into the back center of the net for his first of the season.
--Just more than eight minutes later at 62:01, Witthauer put SPU on top with his third of the year.. The ball was played into the box from the right wing side and
JJ Diaz made a falling bicycle kick with his right foot. It landed just outside the center of the 6-yard box where Witthauer settled it with his foot and drilled a shot into the back right corner.
--Ketcham made it 3-1 at 70:22. Witthauer sent a long cross from the right side and the unmarked Ketcham one-timed it into the back right corner for his second.
--Western Oregon cut it to 3-2 with 13:03 left in the game. Junior Ochoa found just enough of an opening between two defenders and got a shot from the right of the penalty arc just past Ficek into the back left corner.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
--Seattle Pacific outshot Western Oregon, 12-10, with a 6-5 edge on target.
--Ficek was credited with three saves.
--The game had its physical moments as 33 fouls were called (20 on WOU, 13 on the Falcons).
--Diaz' assist on SPU's second goal gave him four for the season, tops on the team.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
--This was SPU's first victory against Western Oregon since Nov. 3, 2022 in Monmouth. That was the year the Wolves started their men's soccer program. The Falcons won both games, but had gone 0-5-2 since then.
--Thursday's match was the first of four straight at home after a stretch of seven in a row on the road. The Falcons went 4-2-1 during their extended time playing out of town.
--With its three goals, SPU took over the conference lead, now with 27. Coming into the night, it had been tied with Western Oregon (now with 25) and Saint Martin's (also with 25).
--Of those 27 goals, the Falcons have 18 on 105 shorts during the second halves of their 12 games. They have nine first-half goals on 71 shots.
UP NEXT
The Falcons play host to
Saint Martin's on Saturday at 1;00 p.m. at Interbay Stadium.
