Men's Soccer Defeated by Seattle Pacific

Saturday, October 8

Phoenix, AZ

7:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Seattle Pacific

Oshane Brown

10/7/2011 10:30:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: Joel Horn

Freshman midfielder Sean Russell scored an unassisted goal in the 43rd minute to lead the Seattle Pacific University men's soccer team, ranked No. 6 in the West Region in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, to a 1-0 win over Grand Canyon University, ranked No. 2 in the West Region and No. 16 in the nation in the NSCAA vote, in a crucial non-conference match tonight at the GCU Soccer Field in Phoenix.

The Falcons, who have clashed with GCU 14 times over the past 10 seasons and are one of the most successful programs in Division II history with five NCAA titles, improved to 8-2-1 overall, 3-1-0 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. This was their sixth match in a difficult eight-match road trip.

The Antelopes, who had a five-match unbeaten streak and have won four Pacific West Conference championships in the five-year history of men's soccer in the conference, fell to 7-3-1 overall, 3-1-1 in the Pacific West Conference.

SPU, which returned all 11 starters from last year, has lost only once in its past nine matches, a 4-3 defeat to Simon Fraser (10-0-0, 5-0-0 in the GNAC), No. 1 in the West Region and No. 3 in the nation in the NSCAA rankings, on Oct. 1 in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. GCU also lost to the Clan, 1-0 on Sept. 10 in Lacey, Wash.

In tonight's match, the Falcons had a 9-8 advantage in shots, but the 'Lopes had a 3-2 edge in shots on goal. Junior forward Saeed Robinson (Portmore, Jamaica, Wolmers Boys School, Western Texas College), the PacWest's leading scorer and the current conference Player of the Week who had seven goals on the team's recent four-match trip to Hawai'i, did not have a single shot.

GCU took eight corner kicks, including five in the first half; SPU took four.

Twenty-four fouls were called, 13 of which were against the Falcons.

Three yellow cards were shown, two of them on SPU.

"This was a tough one," GCU Head Coach Petar Draksin said. "Out of the three 1-0 losses we have had this year, this one is the toughest. We did not take enough quality shots to give ourselves a chance to score goals. We were not aggressive penetrating the 18-yard box by dribble or by passes, and if you don't do that you're not giving yourself a chance to score goals.

"Credit SPU for being very, very organized and patient. Defensively we made two mistakes on the same play that they scored on. On the left side of the field we missed a tackle, and then on the shot we turned our back on the guy that shot the ball and he buried it. That's all they needed.

"Otherwise our defense played outstanding. Nick Sykes has been fantastic most of the year. I can't say enough good things about his play. We also had some very, very good play in the midfield, especially in the first half. We just got to figure out how to penetrate the 18-yard box better. We need to be much more offensive-minded and give ourselves better chances to score."

GCU now is 3-13-3 all-time vs. Seattle Pacific. Last year, the Falcons beat the then-No. 19-ranked 'Lopes, 3-0, on Oct. 14 in Seattle. It was their last win against a team ranked at the time of the game. Their last road win over a ranked foe was a 1-0 decision at No. 17 GCU on Oct. 12, 2009.

GCU has played SPU in each of the past four seasons. The 'Lopes lost three of the four matches (the other was a double-overtime tie). GCU made the postseason twice during that span, however, while SPU has not made it once.

Seattle Pacific 1, GCU 0

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