Monday, September 18, 2023
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. – Seattle Pacific women’s soccer has been scoring goals all season and netted its biggest win of the 2023 campaign last week, taking down No. 2 Colorado Mines 2-1 on the road to earn recognition as the GNAC Team of the Week.

The Falcons (3-2-0) handed the nationally-ranked Orediggers (4-1-1) their first loss of the season in thrilling comeback fashion. After falling behind in the 15th minute to an early goal, SPU battled back just under 10 minutes later with sophomore forward Taylor Krueger netting the first goal of her collegiate career to send the match into halftime tied 1-1.

After being outshot 11-7 in the first half, the Falcons flipped the script on the Orediggers, outshooting their opponents 7-6 to close out the game. Krueger played a critical role down the stretch as well, picking up an assist on freshman midfielder Andie Buckley’s game-winning goal in the 68th minute to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Krueger’s strong offensive performance against nationally-ranked competition also earned her selection as the GNAC Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week.

Defensively, Seattle Pacific was led by sophomore goalkeeper Mercedes Cullen in her first start of the season. With Colorado Mines ranked No. 13 in scoring offense in Divison II, Cullen was instrumental in holding the Orediggers to just one goal. Cullen finished the match with seven saves, including five in the first half, while facing 17 shots. Her efforts in net also earned her individual recognition as the GNAC Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week.

Head coach Arby Busey is very pleased with the way the Flacons built up ahead of its contest against Seattle Pacific and the result his squad was able to come away with.

“Our team had a great week!” Busey said. “The whole group prepared together for the opportunity we had on Saturday night and it was great to see all of them be rewarded for the hard work they put in all week. We were blessed to be part of an amazing college soccer game on Saturday night and very happy to have gotten a result against a high quality opponent!”

The win marked Seattle Pacific’s third multi-goal effort of the young season and solidified SPU’s place at the top of the GNAC rankings with nine goals. The passing game has also been a strength for the Falcons who rank second in the conference with five assists.

Seattle Pacific will kick off the conference slate this week with a pair of games at home. The Falcons will host Montana State Billings on Thursday before taking on defending national champion Western Washington on Saturday.