With the Great Northwest Athletic Conference underway, Seattle Pacific University Falcons competed in a total of five GNAC games for men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball.
Women’s Soccer:
On Thursday, Oct. 2., the SPU women’s soccer team went up against Simon Fraser University at Interbay Soccer Stadium. The Falcons tied with Simon Fraser 0-0, but the game never slowed down during the 90 minutes of play.
Three saves were made by senior Mercedes Cullen in the first 20 minutes of the match. At the 50th minute, Simon Fraser fired off six shots. Cullen saved the first four goals before junior Landry Schoennauer took over as goalkeeper, who saved the other two.
Senior Taylor Krueger and junior Ashlyn Valdovinos both took a shot at Simon Fraser’s goal in the first half with no success. During the second half, freshman Grace Gouran, senior Kayla Wallace, junior Nora Patterson and Kruger all took a chance at a game-winning point, once again with no luck.
The Falcons lost 0-3 to the Western Washington University Vikings Saturday, Oct. 4 at Interbay Soccer Stadium. Wallace attempted a long drive shot in the fifth minute, but the shot was intercepted by the Vikings’ goalkeeper. Western Washington then went on to score three goals in the 17th, 33rd and 38th minutes of the game, which put them up 0-3 going into halftime.
In the second half, Schoennauer kept the back of the net cleared for the Falcons for the rest of the game, not allowing the Vikings to get a bigger lead. Gouran attempted to get the ball in the net twice, however both attempts were unsuccessful. Wallace made another attempt but was once again blocked by the Vikings goalie. With six minutes left, Patterson attempted two more shots before the game resulted in a 0-3 loss for the Falcons.
The Falcons will play Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 12 p.m. in Nampa, Idaho.
Men’s Soccer:
Seattle Pacific hosted Northwest Nazarene University at Interbay Soccer Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4.
In the tenth minute of the game, junior Rafael Lucio scored the first conference goal for the Falcons. While NNU’s goalie tried fighting the call in note that the goal was not valid due to a push, the referees called it a goal which gave SPU a 1-0 lead. Lucio was assisted by sophomore Christian Chel Lara. Junior JJ Diaz scored an unassisted goal in the 37th minute, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
Senior Orlando Erazo scored SPU’s third goal in the 60th minute who was assisted by senior Chester March. Six minutes later, NNU was able to get the ball past SPU graduate Brian Lanier, making the score 3-1. Senior Connor Tollan was able to seal the game 4-1 with an unassisted goal during the 72nd minute, giving SPU their first GNAC win.
The Falcons will play Simon Fraser on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 5 p.m. at Interbay Soccer Stadium.
Volleyball:
Seattle Pacific Volleyball gained their first GNAC victory against Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Royal Brougham Pavilion, winning in four sets.
After a close first set SPU lost 24-26. The Falcons won sets two and three in a landslide, knocking Northwest Nazarene out 25-17 in the second set and 25-18 in the third. During the fourth set the Falcons won 25-23. The match was decided by three crucial kills from freshman Maiya Lester.
The Falcons dominated the game with a total of 65 kills, 56 assists, six aces and eight blocks. Junior Sophia Chambers racked up 40 assists alone as well as 12 digs. Freshman Megan Omlid scored 16 kills, one ace and one block. Junior Christina Lopez had 17 digs.
On Saturday, Oct. 4, The Falcons played against Central Washington University at Royal Brougham Pavilion. In the match, the Falcons narrowly lost a five-set game to CWU.
The Falcons started off strong, winning set one with a score of 25-18. In set two, Central challenged, giving SPU a loss of 21-25. The Falcons came back and won set three with a score of 25-20, hitting a percentage of .333 that round. The Falcons lost the fourth set 21-25, tying the game for Central. In the deciding match, SPU lost to Central 8-15.
Chambers had 38 total assists, Lester had 16 kills and Lopez made 15 successful digs. Seattle Pacific had eight Aces from Omlid who scored three, redshirt freshman Elle McCandless with two and freshman Madeline Eggerth with two.
The Falcons will play Montana State University Billings on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 12 p.m. in Billings, Montana.
