Saturday, November 5, 2011

Tyler Schultz scored his league-leading 15th goal in the eighth minute Saturday leading 23rd-ranked Seattle Pacific to a 1-0 victory over Saint Martin's in the final regular-season men's soccer game at Interbay Stadium.

The Falcons (13-3-2, 7-2-1) registered their most victories in in six seasons since posting 15 wins in 2005.

Saturday may not have been the final Interbay Stadium appearance of the year for the Falcons. They were listed No. 1 in this week's West Region rankings and will host two rounds of NCAA Division II tournament games if they remain in that spot.

The 32-team playoff field will be announced Monday at 4 p.m. and five-time national champion SPU seeks its first invitation since 2006.

Schultz received a pass from Blaine Carver inside the box and slipped a 10-yard shot into the lower right of the Saints goal at 7:38.

That was the eighth game-winning goal this season for the senior midfielder and the 15th of his career.

Goalkeeper Zach Johnson stopped two shots to preserve his 11th shutout. JJ Olson made four saves for Saint Martin's (5-11-2, 4-5-1), which was outshot 20-6.

In a non-conference game, Simon Fraser (17-0-1) blanked Sioux Falls, S.D. 3-0 in a game played in very strong winds.

“I am very proud of the lads for battling through the weather elements to earn a big result on the road,” SFU head coach Alan Koch said.

The USF defense held its own against the top scoring offense in NCAA DII until the 38th minute, when Carlo Basso found space inside the box and finished far post to give the SFU a 1-0 lead.

Cougar keeper Adam Wemhoff made two point-blank saves after the Basso strike to keep the score 1-0 until halftime.

The Clan, which outshot USF 9-0 in the first period, extended its lead to 2-0 in the 49th minute when forward Farhad Abdulgani one-timed a shot off a cross from teammate Juan Sanchez.

In the 61st minute, SFU, which finished with a 17-6 shot advantage, was the beneficiary of an own goal by USF to make it 3-0. Simon Fraser completes its season Sunday playing Fort Hays State in a neutral site contest.