McKray Kohn
Paul Dunn
2
Saint Martin's SMU (0-6-0, 0-1-0 GNAC)
3
Winner Western Washington WWU (2-2-2, 1-0-0 GNAC)
Saint Martin's SMU
(0-6-0, 0-1-0 GNAC)
2
Final
3
Western Washington WWU
(2-2-2, 1-0-0 GNAC)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Saint Martin's SMU 0 2 2
Western Washington WWU 1 2 3

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Austin Byrnes

Second Half Rally Not Enough In Saints' 3-2 Loss At Western Washington

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Despite two second half goals in the final ten minutes, and playing two men down, the Saints fell 3-2 to Western Washington to open the 2017 GNAC season.

The Vikings (2-2-2, 1-0-0 GNAC) scored the lone goal in the first half in the 37th minute when a long pass left to right found a Viking seven yards out on the right side of the box. 

Western Washington extended their to 3-0 in the second half on goals in the 60th and 78th minutes from Drew Farnsworth and Georg Cholewa respectively. However, the match was far from over despite the Saints (0-6-0, 0-1-0) trailing 3-0 with 10 minutes left in the match. McKray Kohn wrestled a ball loose and scored from seven yards out to the far post for this first goal of the season and cut the Vikings' lead to 3-1 in the 80th minute. Just two minutes later, Brandon Madsen, increased his match-scoring streak to four straight games when his shot found net on the lower left side of the goal on the penalty kick. The Saints attempted to equalize in the final five minutes wtih a shot from John and a corner in the final seconds; however, Western Washington held on 3-2 for the victory.

"The first 22 minutes of the match we had really good shape and our movement on and off the ball was very good," said head coach Rob Walker. "We had a couple finishing chances and we were tight marking in the back. With Sebastian's (Navarro) red card, the game changed, giving them a chacne to push a little bit. With the second red card in the second half, the men really tripled their effort to go from being down 3-0 to 3-2 and pushing so well at the end. That effort makes me extremely proud."

"Very proud of the team for battling back after two red cards," said Kohn. "Although a score of 3-2 doesn't give us a win, it shows the relentlessness of the team to try to win. We have the personnel to be a top team in the conference and I believe one win will spark our fire."

Griffin Small got the start at keeper, going 83:34 minutes, making five saves before Parker Elliot finished off the final 6:26 minutes. Kohn led the Saints with two shots, while Madsen, Kyle Witzel and Caymon John each recorded one shot. 

The Saints travel to Canada for a match against No. 2 Simon Fraser on Saturday, September 23 at 7:00 p.m.
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