This Week in Falcon Sports

Men’s and women’s soccer celebrated senior night on Sat, Nov. 9, and both teams got to celebrate wins with women’s soccer defeating Northwest Nazarene University 4-0 and men’s soccer beating Saint Martin’s University 4-2.

Saturday marked the final home soccer game for Falcon players Megan Moore, Asia Cayetano, Mason Minder and Megan Nielsen. It was a fairly easy win for the team, as junior Sophia Chilczuk scored two goals in the victory. Fellow junior Claire Neder and freshman Chloe Gellhaus added goals as well.  

It was a much needed bounce back for the team after their 2-0 loss to Western Washington University on Thursday. Dayana Diaz and Liv Larson scored for the Vikings in the win. 

The men’s soccer team got the scoring started early on their senior night when junior Titus Grant slipped a shot past the keeper in the 12th minute.

Head Coach Mark Collings explained that this year, when the Falcons get the first goal of a game, they often win. 

“Now that we’re playing from ahead instead of behind, that’s where we’re starting to get some results,” he said, referring to the team’s current two-game winning streak.

The Falcons lone senior, Trevor Lee, also got in on the scoring after receiving a cross from Grant, making the score 2-0.

“He’s everything that our program needs,” Collings said of Lee. “He’s selfless, he doesn’t worry about his own stats, he doesn’t worry about how many minutes he plays — he just worries about putting quality time on the field when he gets it.” 

The other goals scored by the Falcons were the first in the careers of freshmen Skylor Rose and Cole Rodgers.

Brandon Madsen scored two goals late in the game for SMU to push his total on the year to 18, but it was not enough as the Falcons took the win 4-2. 

The men’s soccer team will finish up their season on the road this week against Montana State Billings and Northwest Nazarene University. 

The men’s and women’s cross-country teams ran in the NCAA Division II West Region Championships in Monmouth, Oregon this past week. 

The women’s team finished fifth in the team scores lead by personal best times from junior Dania Holmberg and senior Kate Lilly. Holmberg ran the race in 20 minutes and 49 seconds to finish in second place, and Lilly finished in eighth with a time of 20 minutes and 59 seconds. 

The women’s team qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships in Sacramento, CA that will take place Saturday, Nov. 23.

The men’s team finished in 19th place in the team scores, led by sophomore Colby Otero’s 63rd place finish.

The men’s basketball team tipped off their season at home this week in the Sodexo Classic, and ended the week with two losses. 

First, the Falcons took on Chico State University and lost 75-53. The Wildcats of CSU jumped out to a 43-29 lead, lead by the 19 points of Malik Duffy. The Falcons closed the gap to eight points in the second half, but were never able to get any closer. 

Leading scorers for the Falcons were senior Gavin Long and freshman Jacob Medjo with 9 points each. Duffy finished with 25 for the Wildcats.

“I think we settled for a lot of stuff, we got out of character … We’re gonna get there, we just gotta keep the effort, keep playing together,” Head Coach Grant Leep said after the loss. 

The Falcons next game was closer, but they still ended up losing 64-58 to Cal Poly Pomona. The Falcons had a nine point lead with 13 minutes to go, but the Broncos answered with an 18-7 run to take the lead for good. 

Junior Harry Cavell led the team with 18 points, and Long had 16 points and eight rebounds. Riley Schaefer and Willam Christmas led the Broncos with 19 and 16 points, respectively. 

The women’s basketball team also began their season this weekend, and they also began with two losses. 

They travelled to Arcata, California to participate in the West Region Challenge and their first game took place against Humboldt State University. The Falcons had a 20-13 lead, but then Humboldt State outscored the Falcons 35-19 over the next two quarters, en route to a 70-54 win. 

Junior Ashlynn Burgess led the Falcons with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Rachel Berg had seven points and four assists. Alexia Thrower had 18 points for Humboldt State.

The next night, the Falcons took on Fresno Pacific University. The Falcons scored 77 points, but gave up 91. Burgess scored 23 for the Falcons, and sophomore Ashley Alter had 15 points and 10 rebounds. 

Jessica Malazarte led Fresno Pacific with 25 points.

Finally, Falcon volleyball took on two tough opponents in Western Washington University and Simon Fraser University.

The Falcons played WWU tightly, but were still swept in three sets by the Vikings. Junior Maddie Batiste had 11 kills and senior Gabby Oddo got her 1,000th career dig in the loss.  

The Falcons took on SFU on Saturday and the two teams split the first four sets. Simon Fraser won the fifth and final set. Batiste had 22 kills and 20 digs. 

Volleyball has two more home games in the year, squaring off with Saint Martin’s University Tuesday, Nov. 12, and Montana State Billings Thursday, Nov. 14.