The Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team ran its West-leading record to 15-1-2 last week with two dominating performances, one on the road in Idaho on Wednesday and the second at home Saturday night.
The Falcons outscored their two opponents - the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders and the Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles - by a combined score of 14-2 in the matches. The bulk of the goals were rung up in a 9-0 rout of the Crusaders on Wednesday, paced by junior forward Jocelyn Charette's hat trick.
In Saturday's 5-2 win over the Golden Eagles, played in an intermittent downpour at Interbay Stadium, the home team lit up the board within the first five minutes. Just 4:26 into the match, senior midfielder Shannon Oakes air-mailed a free kick from 25 yards out that curved neatly into the Cal State goal.
Four minutes later, sophomore forward Amanda Johnson battled her way past the L.A. defense and drilled the ball past the visitors' keeper into the net. It was the first of two goals for Johnson on the night.
Senior midfielder Meredith Teague netted her team-leading 12th goal of the year for the Falcons on a powerful strike that found the upper right corner of the Golden Eagles' net. That built SPU's lead to 3-0 late in the first half and they never looked back. Freshman forward Brandi Hamre also had a second-half tally for the Falcons near the end of the match.
SPU's two goals in the first nine minutes were characteristic of the quick-passing, one-step-ahead offense the SPU coach Chuck Sekyra encourages. Seattle Pacific had a significant advantage in shots, 21-6, as the Golden Eagles' record fell to 7-8-3.
At halftime of the Saturday match, SPU honored community activist and super soccer dad Neil Callahan, who was a leading force in the Seattle youth soccer community and a supporter of SPU soccer. Many of the 300-plus in attendance, despite the inclement weather, stood in tribute to the vibrant Callahan, who succumbed to a heart attack last year.
Wednesday's outpouring of goals mad the match something of a party for the visiting Falcons. SPU led the Crusaders by just 2-0 at halftime,but added seven more goals in a 21-minute period during the second half.
In addition to Charette's three goals, scorers for SPU included Teague, with two goals, and Mallorie Gerstmann, Shannon Oakes, Kayla Stiegemeier, and Hamre all with one. Elfin midfielder Janae Goday recorded two assists on the day, as did the stalwart Oakes. Freshmen Kelsey Jenkins and Mandy Verdoia also were credited with assists in the scoring.
"We're playing some great soccer," Sekyra said after the Nazarene game. "A lot of people are playing really well and we are as healthy as we've been all year long. We have a lot of talented players."
The Falcons play their final two regular-season games this coming week, both at Interbay Stadium. Western Oregon visits at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 6. Montana State Billings comes in at 7 p.m., next Saturday night to close out the regular season.
The improving SPU men's soccer team, unlucky 2-1 losers to Cal State L.A. in double overtime Saturday night, close out their home season Thursday with a 7 p.m. game against Montana State Billings following the Falcon women's 4:30 opener.[[In-content Ad]]
