MEN’S SOCCER: 

The Seattle Pacific men’s soccer team packed their bags for the second time this season as they headed to Hawaii to play games against the University of Hawaii Hilo on Wednesday, Sept. 22, and Chaminade University on Saturday, Sept. 25. 

In the first game against Hawaii Hilo, the men were able to squeeze out a 3-2 victory in overtime. Despite the win, the game did not start out favorably for the Falcons. 

During the first half, two goals were scored within 25 minutes by the Hawaii Hilo Vulcans. The Falcons had seven shots, but none were successful and left the team down 2-0 going into the second half. 

The second half of the game produced two goals for the Falcons, tying the game 2-2. The first goal for the Falcons was scored 12 minutes into the second half by senior forward Alden Massey with an assist from sophomore forward Judah Johnston. 

Massey’s goal would ignite a fire under the men as their second goal of the half was scored only two minutes later by senior midfielder Travis Swallow. 

After tying the game, the Falcons would not allow the Vulcans to score any more goals, sending both teams into anxiety-inducing overtime. 

The two teams would battle for control of the ball for seven minutes until the Falcons finally emerged victorious. Senior forward Alex Meija scored the final goal of the game as he won it for his team, 3-2. 

Meija’s senior season at SPU is off to an amazing start. He was recently named the GNAC Men’s Soccer Player of the Week for the week of Sep. 13 through Sept. 19.

The head coach of the men’s soccer team, Kevin Sakuda, has many positive things to say about Mejia who has become a very essential part of the team.

“Alex has been great all year.  He’s a huge part of what we do. He works extremely hard on both sides of the ball and his ability to score in different ways makes him extremely difficult to play against.  He continues to step up and score goals in big moments!” Sakuda said. “The award was well deserved and it’s a testament to the work he puts in every day at training and his preparation off the field.”

In the second game, SPU shut out the Chaminade Silverswords with a score of 4-0. Titus Grant was the only one to score a goal during the first half of the game after senior midfielder Aiden Chaparro stole the ball at midfield. 

During the second half of the game, the Falcons were able to hold the Silverswords off and score three more goals. The first was attained by senior defender Nik Reierson after a cross by Grant. Meija would follow Reierson’s goal with one of his own 18 minutes later when he lobbed it over a defender’s head right into the net, just under the crossbar. Meija holds the highest number of goals scored for the team at six.

The final goal of the game was scored by Massey with three minutes left to go, stealing the ball at midfield and scoring the breakaway goal. 

The Falcons have only lost one game this season against Colorado School of Mines, and now hold a season record of 5-1. 

VOLLEYBALL:

The women’s volleyball team was also on the road as they traveled to play the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. Even though the team was coming off a five-game win-streak, it was not enough to keep the momentum going into the two games. 

In the first match against Alaska Fairbanks, the Falcons lost three sets to one. They were off to a hot start as they won the first set of the match 25 to 20, but the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks quickly fought back. 

The Nanooks took the next two sets with scores of 25-21 and 25-20. The Falcons looked to be rallying back in the final set against the Nanooks as they only were down by one point, but they fell short as the opposing team reached 25 points on a service error by junior setter Lindsey Lambert.

Fifth-year outside hitter Maddie Batiste led the team during this match with ten total kills. Batisite leads the team this season with 97 kills so far. Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hair is not too far behind her with 92. 

In the Falcons’ second game of the week, they once again lost in their game against Alaska Anchorage, 3-0. The Seawolves beat the SPU Falcons 25 to 20 in both the first and second sets. In the final set, the Falcons were unable to gain any leverage over the Seawolves and lost 25-12. Senior outside hitter Erin Gould gained the most kills this game at 14.

The Falcons moved forward as they prepare to play Saint Martin’s University on Thursday, Sept. 30, and Western Oregon University on Saturday, Oct. 2.