College Scoreboard: #11 Whitworth Men rally to top Lutes

The Pirates celebrate their big win over the Lutes (school photo)

SPOKANE, Wash. – Despite giving up twice as many goals as it has in any match this season, Whitworth rallied past visiting Pacific Lutheran for a 3-2 Northwest Conference men’s soccer victory on Saturday afternoon.

The 11th-ranked Pirates improved to 8-0-1 overall and 5-0 (15 points) in the NWC. The Lutes saw their four-match winning streak come to an end and fell to 5-4-1, 4-1 (12 points).

As is typical of the traditional Northwest Conference powers, the pace of play was intense and fast throughout and the contest featured wide swings in momentum.

“The sustained tempo of the game was higher than we’ve seen this year,” said Whitworth head coach Sean Bushey. “Coupled with the goals it was a good game for fans to watch.”

Read the Whitworth report here and see more with a report and photos at Inland Northwest Soccer News.

The Whitworth Women drew 2:2 with PLU.

Loggers Men Upset In OT At Whitman

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Whitman drove in the game-winner in overtime to upset the 21st-ranked Puget Sound men’s soccer team. The Loggers (7-2-1, 4-1 NWC) saw their seven-match win streak snapped.

In overtime, Oliver Field and Ryan Rash brought pressure on the Missionaries (4-5-2, 2-2-1 NWC) defense as each put a shot on goal. However, Jed Jacobsen’s shot from the top of the box found the upper left corner to give the Missionaries the win.

Carson Swope had tied the game up in the 76th minute for the Loggers. Andrew White played a ball into the box and Swope took a few touches before firing from the center of the box and finding the back of the net.

Logan Grime scored the Missionaries first goal in the 36th minute.

Whitman’s goal was the only shot put on frame in the first half and Whitman outshot the Loggers 5-1. They continued to outshoot the Loggers as they held a 7-2 advantage in the second half. However, McDonald made all five of his saves in the second half to send the match into overtime.

The Loggers face off with No. 11 Whitworth Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Spokane, Wash.

Loggers Women Down Whitman 2-0

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Puget Sound women’s soccer team stayed on a roll as it defeated Whitman 2-0 on Saturday. Merfeld made seven saves to run her scoreless streak to 380 minutes and record the Loggers (5-2-1, 4-0-1 NWC) fourth consecutive shutout.

The Loggers found one goal in each half to defeat the Missionaries and stay undefeated in conference. Theresa Henle scored the first goal 14:02 into the game. She picked up a loose ball at the top of the box and beat Whitman’s goalie to the top left corner.

In the second half, Robin Vieira dribbled through the defense and found the back of the net in the 80th minute for an insurance goal. Merfeld made five of her seven saves to preserve the shutout.

The Loggers will square off against Whitworth, who is also undefeated in NWC play at 5-0-1, tomorrow at noon.

Four Scores and a Geoduck Win Over Northwest

KIRKLAND, Wash. – Taking the lead just 27 seconds into the game, the Evergreen Geoducks picked up a 4-0 win over the Northwest Eagles in a Cascade Conference men’s soccer game on Saturday at NU Soccer Field in Kirkland, Wash.

Junior Jack Fortune (Monroe, Wash./Monroe HS) gave the Geoducks the lead in the opening minute after sending in a ball from 25 yards out that bounced over the head of Northwest keeper Jonny Wong.  Evergreen continued to pressure the goal over the next 44 minutes but the lead remained just 1-0 at half.

In the second half, the Geoducks blew the game open, beginning with a successful penalty kick by Mirza Memic (Bellevue, Wash./Whatcom CC) in the 50th minute.  Kevin Flavin (Oak Harbor, Wash./Shoreline CC) made in 3-0 in the 60th minute after dribbling up the left side and beating the Northwest defense before firing in a ball from 15 yards out for the score.

Memic earned the brace, his second of the season, in the 75th minute after George Bundy (Enumclaw, Wash./Enumclaw HS) sent in a floating free kick and Memic put a head on it for the 4-0 Geoduck advantage.

While the Evergreen offense was having a great game at one end of the field, Geoduck keeper Mauricio Sanchez (Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee Valley CC) earned the shutout at the other end, making five saves in his season debut.

Evergreen returns to Olympia on Saturday afternoon when they play host to Northwest Christian to wrap up the first half of conference play.  Kick with the Beacons is set for 2 p.m. at Evergreen Pitch in Olympia, Wash.

Seattle Pacific Falcons Men edge Western Washington

BELLINGHAM,Wash. – Blaine Carver’s 61st-minute goal helped third-ranked Seattle Pacific stop a three-game winless streak with a 1-0 victory over Western Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s soccer game Saturday at Orca Field.

The Falcons (7-1-2) responded to their only loss of the season, a 5-1 setback at Simon Fraser on Thursday, with their third straight win over WWU.

“It showed our experience and the kind of leadership we have on this team to be able to bounce back from a tough night the other day,” said SPU coach Mark Collings. “We came right back and got a good win on the road. The conference is so competitive this year that any win we can get on the road is really big for us.”

Seattle Pacific, which tied a pair of games last week, got its first win since Sept. 15 and improved to 3-1-2 in league play.

The Vikings (4-5-1) saw their GNAC record fall to 2-3-1.

Carver (Soldotna, Ak.) netted what proved to be the game-winning score at 60:41, his team-high fourth goal for the Falcons. He re-directed the ball into the WWU goal from close range at the left post off a low cross from freshman Danny Olivas.

“Western played a very good game tonight, they played hard,” Collings said. “It was a good, competitive game and we feel fortunate to have been able to put a ball away.”

Olivas (Phoenix, Ariz.) is now tied for the team lead with three assists. He intercepted a pass and beat a defender to the end line before delivering the cross from the right side for the decisive tally.

Senior goalkeeper Zach Johnson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) was not called upon to stop a shot in his fourth shutout of the season. WWU did not have a shot directly on goal.

“Tonight was really a team effort defensively. From our midfielders to our forwards, the pressure we put on the ball was quite good,” Collings described. “Any time they got the ball we were there pretty quickly to close them down. When they did try to shoot we were there to deny them from getting anything on goal.”

Keegan Rogers made one save for the Vikings, who were outshot by an 18-6 margin.

The Western Women beat Montana State-Billings.

Dramatic Finish Gives Falcons Overtime Win

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Falcons have played the home version of “Beat the Clock” twice in the last two weeks, getting goals in the waning seconds at Interbay Stadium.

On Sept. 19 against Western Washington, Kaylie Winstonscored on a header with 15 seconds showing on the clock at the end of regulation. That gave the Seattle Pacific women’s soccer team a 2-1 victory.

Saturday night they cut it even closer.

Freshman Shayla Page headed in a corner kick with 10 seconds remaining in the final overtime to give SPU a thrilling 2-1 victory over Saint Martin’s in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest.

Page (Redmond, Wash./Eastlake) was seven yards out from the left post when she nodded in Megan Lindsay’s corner kick from the right side at 109:50. That was the third goal in the last four games for the SPU defender.

“There was 10 seconds left in our last overtime and we were kind of rushed,” described Page, whose golden goal ended a nearly 75-minute stretch of scoreless soccer. “Megan Lindsay ran over, set the ball down, kicked it in for a corner and I was just in the right place at the right time. I got a head to it and we scored.”

The Falcons (6-2-2) were 10 seconds away from their third consecutive tie, but instead improved to 3-1-2 in conference play.

“It’s huge to get that win because I think we deserved it,” SPU coach Chuck Sekyra said. “We’ve been kind of snake-bit a little bit lately with the ball not bouncing our way. Tonight it did.”

SMU (5-5-0) had its GNAC record evened at 3-3-0. The Saint had won their previous two games.

SPU opened the scoring at 17:49 on a perfect shot by Ali Martin (Beaverton, Ore.). The sophomore forward collected a clearing header at the top of the box and directed a 17-yard boot into the upper right for herteam-leading fourth goal.

The Saints tied the score at 35:14. Nicole Nedervelt slammed a shot off the crossbar that caromed down into the goalmouth. Ashley Richardson raced to the ball and tapped it into the right side of the open goal from six yards out.

In her first action as a Falcon, sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Hughes (Everett, Wash./Archbishop Murphy) stopped two shots. Her counterpart Ashley Engel was credited with 11 saves for the Saints, who were outshot 30-10.

After SMU compiled a 7-5 first-half advantage, the Falcons dominated the shot count 25-3 the rest of the way. They had a 7-1 shooting edge during the extra sessions.

In the fourth minute of overtime Lindsay (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) had a goal called back due to an offside call.

The Seattle Pacific women visit Central Washington on Thursday at 4 p.m. before returning home to host Simon Fraser on Saturday at 1 p.m.

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