Thursday, November 5, 2015

BURNABY, B.C. – The most valuable player of last year’s GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships made magic happen again for Seattle Pacific.

Isabel Farrell scored the golden goal in the 109th minute on a right-footed boot from 15-yards out, allowing the Falcons to advance to the 2015 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships final on Saturday with a 1-0 double overtime victory over Concordia at Terry Fox Field. The Falcons advanced to the final match with a chance to win their third straight championship in as many years.

Farrell was all over the field in the match, facilitating the ball to her teammates while providing the Falcons with some of their best scoring opportunities. The senior midfielder took four shots, putting three on goal and netting her third goal of the season in the match’s final minutes.

Laura Moore dished out the game-winning assist to Farrell, who one-timed the pass with her right foot from 15-yards out, past Concordia’s diving goalkeeper Olivia Brock.

Both goalkeepers were strong in net over 109 minutes, aggressively playing loose balls and making timely saves. Brock made nine saves and made a few game-saving stops against the Falcons. Seattle Pacific’s Molly Stinson made five saves and was in control throughout the match.

The Falcons held a shot advantage of 22-18 with a 10-5 lead in shots on goal. Seattle Pacific was able to sustain the most offensive pressure in the match, taking seven corner kicks to the Cavaliers two.

Farrell played her best soccer in the two overtime periods and the second half, where she began to take over the match offensively. In the 95th minute, Farrell had one of the best scoring chances, heading a ball on net off a pass from the corner, but Brock was there to make a diving save to her right.

Farrell also had back-to-back strong opportunities midway through the second half. The senior streaked down the right side in the 68th minute, sending a pass in towards the net that remained loose in front momentarily before Concordia was able to clear the ball. Farrell had another excellent opportunity just moments later, hooking a right-footed shot on goal that Brock deflected up and over the net in the 72nd minute.

One of the Cavaliers top scoring chances of the match came late in the first overtime period in the 98th minute. On a clearing attempt by Stinson, defender Hannah Smith stepped up on the ball cutting off the Falcon midfielder and taking a hard shot from 15 yards out that Stinson saved, diving to her left.

Both defenses were at the top of their games, with very few second chance opportunities on either side. Mistakes were few and far between in a match full of top-notch plays on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

While the second half and overtime periods were filled with back and forth scoring opportunities, the first half was tightly played by both defenses, who limited shots to the outside. Seattle Pacific led the first half with a 4-2 shots on goal advantage while Concordia held a 9-8 lead in overall shots.

The Falcons’ Mickayla Murray had an early scoring opportunity in front of the net off a Concordia turnover, but goalkeeper Olivia Brock was there to make the first save of the match.

Seattle Pacific put on early pressure in the offensive side of the field, controlling the ball and putting up the only two shots on goal through the first 10 minutes. The Cavaliers played defensively early on, but kept the Falcons’ attack to the outside before settling down offensively.

The Cavaliers first offensive opportunity came in the 18^th minute off a corner kick, resulting in a loose ball in front of the net that goalkeeper Molly Stinson was able to pull in.

The Falcons had two scoring chances off of corner kicks in the final 20 minutes of the half. The GNAC’s leading scorer had two late opportunities, with her best coming after receiving a pass from 10 yards out on the right side, hooking a shot beyond the left host past a diving Brock.

With the victory, Seattle Pacific will play the winner of Western Washington and Montana State Billings on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. Pacific time with an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Championships on the line.