Tuesday, October 14, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Seattle Pacific men’s soccer team scored a huge victory on Saturday with a 1-0 win over then 22nd ranked Northwest Nazarene.

The win put the Falcons in sole possession of first place and maintained their 7-0 conference record while giving the Crusaders their first conference loss on the season.

The Falcons scored on Bryson Pavel’s goal in the 82nd minute, a header from a free kick 35 yards out.

This Falcons team set a new standard with the win, setting the longest unbeaten SPU streak to start a season with 11. The 10-0-1 Falcons surpassed SPU’s 1975 team for the record.

SPU moved up to No. 4 in this week’s NSCAA Top 25 rankings while Northwest Nazarene slipped out of the Top 25, sitting currently at 28th.

The Crusaders, which beat Saint Martin’s earlier in the week, are still fourth in the regional rankings. NNU will travel to Mary and South Dakota Mines this week while SPU goes to Simon Fraser and Western Washington.

SFU and WWU are coming off two wins last week to put themselves in a position for a comeback in the standings.

Simon Fraser’s Jovan Blagojevic scored three goals last week to give him 12 on the season which is tied for fourth in the nation. Blagojevic now has 77 points in his career where he ranks tied for seventh all-time.

The Clan blanked South Dakota Mines 3-0 on two Blagojevic gaols and then handled Mary 3-1 after scoring two goals in the first half for the six point weekend.

Western Washington also played Mary and South Dakota Mines, winning 2-1 in each match.

WWU’s Gabriele Zaccagnini scored the game winner against Mary in the 68th minute while co-offensive Player of the Week Luke Olney assisted the equalizer against South Dakota Mines before scoring the winning goal in double overtime. 

Other Notes:

• Three GNAC teams are ranked in this week’s NSCAA West Region rankings. Seattle Pacific leads the West while NNU sits at fourth. Surging SFU came back into the rankings after falling out last week at No. 10.

• The first NCAA West Region rankings will be released on Wednesday, October 22. 

• Mateo Espinosa of Simon Fraser and Olney of Western Washington won co-GNAC offensive Player of the Week honors while Jordan Kollars of Seattle Pacific won defensive Player of the Week.