Seattle Pacific soccer ends eventful seasons on right track
Women’s soccer holds on to undefeated record while men’s soccer finishes strong
May 19, 2021
Seattle Pacific University’s men’s soccer team finished out their season with two games against Western Washington University. Entering the week, SPU entered with a three game win-streak and looked to continue their winning ways.
The Falcons did not start game one the way they had hoped. They were scoreless in the first half and conceded two goals to Western Washington, one in the fifth minute and one in the 43rd minute, putting them behind to start the second half.
Things would start to go the Falcons way toward the end of the game when junior Musa Ali cut the lead in half with an exceptional free-kick from 28 yards. Ali set up on the right side of the field and sent the ball looping past the goalie and into the net.
The Vikings were able to hold on for the victory after fending off the Falcons in the last 11 minutes of the game, not allowing them to take another shot. This loss snapped SPU’s three game winning streak.
Despite the loss to WWU, the Falcons were looking at the positives.
“I think we’re really good at putting teams under pressure by creating lots of chances, as well as being able to play out of tight spaces,” Goalie Cam Welty said. “I think a lot of this has to do with how much our coaching staff has pushed us to be comfortable under pressure and play the right way, instead of just kicking it long and hoping someone will be on the other end.”
Seattle Pacific had a shot at redemption on May 15 when they faced the Vikings once more to end the season.
SPU got off to a hot start scoring the first goal of the game in the sixth minute. Senior midfielder Travis Swallow would be credited for the goal and senior defender Alex Mejia would be credited with an assist.
The Falcons would hold that 1-0 lead until the last minute of the game, when Western Washington was able to tie up the game, taking the game to overtime.
In two overtimes, neither team could find the back of the net, resulting in a tie.
After coming off the bench for SPU, Junior goalie Lars Helleren had a season-high eight saves for the Falcons. Helleren accomplished this feat with only acquiring 65 minutes of playing time.
The Falcons wrap up their season having played six official contests, finishing with three wins, two losses, and a tie.
“I think the season has gone better than we hoped,” Welty said. “Obviously there’s some results we wish could have been different, but we’ve come a long way as a team. The reason we’ve come so far though, is because we’ve worked hard and put in the hours to understand our system.”
Women’s soccer finished their season undefeated after winning against Western Washington University 4-1. Last time out against WWU, SPU would almost spoil their perfect record in a 4-4 tie against the Vikings.
After conceding a goal to WWU in the first half, the Falcons came out scoring four of their own to hold on to the victory.
Junior defender Mariah Alexander would tie the game in the 56th minute. Senior midfielder Claire Neder would account for two other goals in the 67th and 84th minutes and senior Sophia Chilczuk would have her team leading tenth goal in the 79th minute.
This win now makes the Falcons 8-0-1. Since the game against Central Washington on March 15 was cancelled, the Falcons were able to finish their season without a blemish on their record.
