Saturday, November 12, 2011

Down two goals at halftime, Seattle Pacific figured they'd just keep firing away, and sooner or later, they'd score a couple goals.

They did – one sooner, and one later. But by the end of a rain-soaked 90 minutes, they were still one goal short.

Jason Swope tallied twice during the first half and Cal State L.A. (15-1-6) held on for a 3-2 victory in the NCAA Division II West Regional men's soccer championship game Saturday night at Interbay Stadium.

The Falcons (14-4-2) were in the postseason for the first time since 2006. It also was the first playoff trip for former SPU player Mark Collings as a coach since he stepping up to the helm beginning with the 2008 season.

“We made some mistakes and they were there to finish them,” Collings said of the Golden Eagles. “They were very opportunistic. Their keeper came up big a couple times, and their center backs both played very well.”

Swope, who tallied three goals in the regional, scored on a shot inside the 6-yard box at 25:35, then doubled the Golden Eagles' lead to 2-0 at 40:48 when he went 1 on 1 against SPU senior goalkeeper Zach Johnson and sent a shot into the back left corner.

The Falcons immediately got back into the game after halftime as defender Brandon Kuenzitook a long throw-in from the left side about 20 yards up from the goal line.

Midfielder Drew Williams headed it on to defender Jon Pearman and from the top left corner of L.A. goalkeeper Waleed Cassis' front porch, Pearman blasted it into the left side at 47:13 to make it 2-1.

Antti Arvola restored the Golden Eagles' two-goal lead at 68:17 when he launched a 26-yard free kick around the right side of a five-man Seattle Pacific wall and into the back right corner.

But the Falcons kept creating, kept shooting, and got within 3-2 at 80:36. Once again, Kuenzi started the play with a long throw-in. This one found forward Tyler Schultz .

Playing near the middle of the 6-yard box, Schultz blasted a shot into the right side.

SPU wound up outshooting the Golden Eagles 18-14 including 11-3 during the second half – with several near-misses.