Seattle Pacific University’s men’s soccer program is approaching the final stretch of its fall season.
Four games ahead of their final match, SPU men’s soccer lost 2-1 against Simon Fraser University on Thursday, Oct. 31, at Interbay Stadium. This was the team’s second-to-last home game. Their final home game and senior night celebration is on Saturday, Nov. 16, against Montana State University Billings.
The Falcons had an aggressive start to the first half, taking eight shots, four on goal, within the first 14 minutes. Simon Fraser kept Seattle Pacific off the board until the 15th minute when senior midfielder Raymundo Mendez tapped the ball in off of a cross from junior midfielder Connor Tollan. Mendez leads the GNAC in goals with nine for the 2024 season thus far. Tollan leads in assists with seven.
Seattle Pacific led 1-0 entering halftime. Simon Fraser took advantage of two corner kicks, tying the score 1-1 in the 78th minute and then pulling ahead in the 89th minute.
Redshirt sophomore forward Alex Hristov reflected on the team’s performance compared to when they last faced Simon Fraser on Oct. 17.
“We controlled a lot better than the other game; unfortunately, we didn’t put our chances away,” Hristov said. “We had 24 shots and only one goal. We could easily score three or four or five on them. It’s all about being clinical in the final third. In the last 10 minutes of the game, [if] you let teams linger around, they’ll punish you for it.”
Hristov believes the team needs to maintain their composure more than ever in their final games, two of which are against Western Oregon University and Northwest Nazarene University. In their previous matches, the Falcons lost 4-1 to WOU and tied 1-1 to NNU.
“We have some of our toughest matchups coming up in the season [but] these are games that we should be able to win, as long as we stay disciplined,” Hristov said.
Seattle Pacific is fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s team standings with a 3-3-2 conference record and a 6-5-3 overall record. The Falcons return to the field against Montana State University Billings on Thursday, Nov. 7, in Billings, Montana, at 5 p.m.
