PORTLAND, Ore. – The Saints found themselves trailing on the road to Concordia before signature second half magic kicked in and propelled Saint Martin's to a critical 2-1 victory.
The Cavaliers took an early lead in the match, scoring in the 19th minute on a give-and-go pass, leading to a one touch goal. Saint Martin's held the Cavaliers scoreless for the rest of the half, yet were unable to equalize before the break.
Saint Martin's has been a stronger team in the second half all season, outscoring their opponents 20-11. SMU looked to continue this second half offense to force a draw or better against Concordia.
In the 67th minute, the Saints were awarded a corner, which
Stephen Murray took. Murray's ball found the back post from a header off
Collin LaBranche. LaBranche's equalizer marked the first goal of his four-year career.
With the equalizer in the bag, Saint Martin's looked to steal three points on the road. Like many times this season, the GNAC's leading scorer
Brandon Madsen proved to be the difference maker. Madsen connected in the 79th minute on a ball from
Jason Fairhurst right in front of the net for his 16th goal of the year.
Saint Martin's defense closed out the victory, stopping the Cavaliers' attempt to equalize in the 87th minute with a save from
Dylan Shaw.
The Saints connected on 17 shots, with 10 landing on target. Fairhurst led with four, all of which on net, with Madsen adding three, followed by
Oscar Aguilar and LaBranche at two.
Saint Martin's tied their win total from 2018 with nine victories and look for their first 10-win season since 2009. SMU travels to Seattle Pacific on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. match with live stats and video available on smusaints.com.
