SEATTLE, Wash. - A second half comeback attempt, focused around
Jose Marquez's goal, fell short as the Saints fell 3-1 on the road to Seattle Pacific.
The Saints' (1-13-1, 1-8-1) first attempt to get on the board came in the 9th minute when McKray Kohn's shot missed wide left. Seattle Pacific (11-4-1, 7-3-1) connected on their second shot of the match, when cross into the box, found Gabriel Weber for the Falcons first goal of the match in the 9th minute. The Falcons struck again in the 16th minute off a cross to the far post, reaching the head of Jose Benavides for the second goal of the match. The final blow of the half came in the 39th minute when multiple passes eventually found an open Travis Swallow to put SPU up 3-0. The Saints only attempted one more shot in the first half;
Sebastian Navarro landed his shot in 14th minute on goal before being saved.
Saint Martin's did not wait long to strike back in the second half. Only 59 seconds into the half, Navarro, who leads the conference in assists, found Marquez on a free kick, with Marquez completing the shot with a header into the near post. Navarro tied Vlad Voin's school record for most assists in a single season with eight, set back in 2009.
Griffin Small, who started at goalkeeper, put together a clean half, making three saves on eight shots faced in the second half. Behind Small and the Saints' defense, SMU looked to continue their second half comeback.
Steven Chu,
Kyle Witzel, and
Brandon Madsen each fired off shots; however, none connected for goals as the Falcons held on to the 3-1 victory.
"The boys were disappointed about the first half," said head coach
Rob Walker. "Credit SPU for doing a good job pressing us and creating problems for us going forward. On the good news front, our start in the second half and our performance overall was something to hang your hat on. We had a free kick called back, a shot for
Sebastian Navarro go off the post and a great turn from
Brandon Madsen. Finally,
Griffin Small's goalkeeping was good throughout the game; especially strong in the second half which we needed as we made a push."
Chu provided a spark off the bench, leading the team with three shots, with two landing on target.
Jose Marquez scored his first collegiate goal in the 46th minute on his only shot in the match. Kohn, Witzel, Navarro, and Madsen combined for the Saints final four shots.
Small played all 90 minutes at goalkeeper for Saint Martin's, recording five shots, with three goals allowed on 18 shots faced.
The Saints return home for their final two matches of the 2017 season, starting with Montana State Billings on Nov 2 at 2:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.
