By Daniel

Sports Editor

Falcons fall in first overtime, then come back with a win on Saturday

After experiencing their second defeat in nine games just two days before, the Seattle Pacific University Women’s soccer team got the win on Saturday.
The SPU Women’s soccer team came up short in overtime, 2-1, against Simon Fraser University last Thursday night, but came back and beat Northwest Nazarene University 2-1 on Saturday.
SPU and Simon Fraser played a scoreless first half, but it did not take long for the Falcons to open the scoring in the second.
Midfielder Claire Neder gave midfielder Brooke Lancaster a good pass, and Lancaster put the ball into the net only 53 seconds into the second half.
Neither team was able to score again until the 80th minute, when Simon Fraser took advantage of a chance to equalize. Midfielder Katelyn Erhardsen sent in a cross from 40 yards out and found forward Emma Pringle, who got behind the SPU defense and headed it into the back of the net.
The game would then move into overtime, which consists of two 10-minute periods. The first team to score would win.
That team turned out to be Simon Fraser.
One minute into the second overtime, midfielder Jenna-Lee Baxter sent in a free kick that was knocked around in the Falcons box, and finally found the foot of defender Gabrielle Brissette, who sent the game winning goal into the net.
The defeat was the first time that SPU had ever lost to Simon Fraser in Women’s Soccer.
SPU head coach Arby Busey said that “It was tough to lose in overtime, especially in that game. We had several good chances to avoid overtime, and were in control of the game for the most part … But it happens sometimes, our opponents had a good game plan that they executed to perfection and deserve a lot of credit.”
Fortunately, the Falcons were able to bounce back quickly against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.
In the 25th minute, midfielder Megan Moore sent in a cross that took a deflection off of a NNU player, and midfielder Claire Neder ran up to put the ball into the bottom right corner, giving the Falcons 1-0 lead.
The Falcons had a majority of the chances the rest of the game, including a midfielder Julia Devere shot that hit off the crossbar and nearly doubled the Falcons lead in the 29th minute.
However, in the 68th minute, defender Rikki Myers scored off a corner kick to draw the game back even.
Nevertheless, the Falcons kept pressing on.
Ten minutes later, midfielder Makena Reitz played a through ball to forward Sophia Chilczuk, who cut inside around the defender and scored. The Nighthawks fought hard to try and equalize, but goalie Riley Travis grabbed the final corner kick out of the air as time expired.
These two results have pushed the Falcons’ total record to seven wins, two losses and a tie, with a record of three wins and one loss in conference play.
One of the key reasons for this record has been the play of the defense, which has only allowed five goals in ten games so far this season. Two of those goals came in the loss to Simon Fraser on Thursday.
Coach Busey credited the good defense to leadership along the back line, great goalkeeping and the team’s ability to pass and keep possession well.