LACEY, Wash. – It didn't take the GNAC scoring leader,
Brandon Madsen, long to find the back of the net in 2018, scoring three goals in the opening 35 minutes to power the Saints to a 3-1 exhibition win over Pacific Lutheran on Thursday.
The Saints quickly jumped on the Lutes, after assists by
Alexis Lopez and freshman
Cole Mattson, found the open Madsen on the far side of the box. Madsen made quick work and found the seam on the near side of the goal for his first goal of the match.
The combination of
Sebastian Navarro and Madsen, which resulted in double-digits goals for the Saints last year, payed dividends in the 26th minute. Navarro led Madsen up the middle of the field, and Madsen converted the one-on-one chance with the goalie for the second goal of the match.
The final strike for the true hat trick came in the 35th minute when Madsen worked past multiple defenders and connected from the middle of the box to put SMU up 3-0.
In the second half, Pacific Lutheran controlled the ball and thus resulted in taking seven shots compared to the Saints' two. Goalie
Dylan Shaw was able to block three attempts on goal; however, the Lutes managed to score in the 58th minute to cut the score to 3-1. The Saints' defense held strong for the rest of the match and secured the 3-1 victory.
"When we started preseason, we knew that this game was going to be pivotal for us as to solidify what we wanted to do going into our first counting matches," said head coach
Rob Walker. "We had significant chances in the first half as we scored the three goals and probably had another two really good chances. We also had a couple a couple good saves by our goalkeepers and in the first half, we are where we want to be in an attacking threat. In the second half, PLU showed great resolve in blocking us, but we made some systematic changes and it got us back in the game."
Griffin Small got the start at goalkeeper, recording three saves on six shots. Madsen and Navarro combined for nine of the Saints' 11 shots, with Mattson collected the other two attempts.
The Saints travel to Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington for an exhibition match on Saturday, starting at 4:30 p.m. Live stats and video of the match can be found on smusaints.com.
