College Soccer Update: Huskies beat #25 SDSU 2:0; Saint Martin's wins GNAC; NU Eagles get big win

November 7, 7:03 AMSeattle Soccer ExaminerDavid Falk

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The Northwest University Eagles (Kirkland) celebrate their first goal on Friday against The College of Idaho. Read about the match below, and see more photos. (Dale Garvey) See a gallery of Dale's photos, including Senior Day poses, in the slide show below.

The local college soccer scene is reaching its climax, and we have some conference winners to congratulate. The Saint Martin's Saints of Lacey WA have taken the Men's Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) crown. The Puget Sound Loggers Women have clinched their 8th straight Northwest Conference title.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Washington men's soccer team broke its recent streak of ties and earned a huge victory in conference play, knocking off No. 25 San Diego State, 2-0, Friday at SDSU Sports Deck.

The win upped UW's record to 5-5-6 overall and 2-1-5 in Pac-10 play while San Diego State drops to 6-5-5 and 3-3-2. More importantly, the victory moved UW into a tie for third in the conference standings with the Aztecs with two games remaining for both teams.

The Huskies, who settled for double-overtime ties in five of their previous seven matches, earned their first victory since Oct. 9, when they defeated then-No. 5 Cal on the road. UW has been a tough road team this season, going 4-1-2 away from Husky Soccer Field.The full match recap at GoHuskies.com.

SEATTLE - The Washington women's soccer team hung tough with No. 4 UCLA but U.S. National Team player Lauren Cheney was too much for the Huskies to overcome as the Bruins escaped a miserable night and treacherous field conditions for a 2-1 victory Friday at Husky Soccer Field.

The Huskies are now 11-5-3 overall and 3-3-2 in Pac-10 play heading into their final game of the regular season on Sunday. UCLA is 16-2-1 and 7-1-0 and kept their hopes alive of earning a share of the conference title.

The teams slugged it out through a constant downpour and sloppy conditions, with all three goals coming in the first 25 minutes of the match.The full match recap at GoHuskies.com.

NU's Luke Fischer attacks the Idaho end but loses control in the wet grass. (Dale Garvey)

The Eagles get some love from the sidelines after scoring their second goal on Friday. (Dale Garvey)

KIRKLAND, Wash. - Following early afternoon lightning and thunder and heavy rain, the NU Eagles clinched the #3 seed in the conference tournament by shutting out the College of Idaho, 2-0, this afternoon on the NU Athletic field.

With three players and Head Coach Gary McIntosh sitting out the contest due to red cards in the previous Corban game on Tuesday, the Eagles pulled together and pulled out the crucial victory. Read the rest at Northwest.edu.

NU Eagles' Senior Mason Abdalla defends as senior GK Kyle Wall (right) clears the
ball. (Dale Garvey)

Northwest University's #9 Brandon Screen takes a free kick during the Kirkland college's 2:0 win over The College of Idaho Friday. The ball was blocked out for a corner kick and Screen scored on the resulting play.(Dale Garvey)

Denver-The Seattle University men's soccer team gave up two goals midway through the first half and could not mount a comeback as Denver University earned a 4-0 victory Thursday night in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at Pioneer Field.

Denver (4-9-3, 1-4-1 MPSF) jumped on the board almost 14 minutes into the match, as Collin Audley picked up a loose ball during a scramble and converted to put the home team ahead.

Just over a minute and a half later, the Pioneers struck again as Michael Perry drove up the right side and sent a crossing pass to Nathan Sackeyfio, who was successful on a one-timer from five yards out to put Denver up, 2-0. Read the rest at GoSeattleU.com.

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University ended its season with a 2-0 victory over league champion Saint Martin's University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game Thursday at Orca Field on the campus of Whatcom Community College.

The Vikings finished 8-11-1 with a season-best four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1), and second in the GNAC standings at 5-3-0.

Saint Martin's, which clinched the league title last week, fell to 11-7-0 overall and 6-2-0 in league play.

"The guys really wanted it, they wanted to make a statement against the conference champs," said Western coach Travis Connell. Read the rest here.

Read how the St. Martin's Saints clinched the GNAC title here.

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University attempted 40 shots, but couldn't find the go-ahead goal and tied Northwest Nazarene University, 1-1 in overtime, in a wind-swept Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer contest Thursday at Orca Field on the campus of Whatcom Community College.

The Vikings, who extended their unbeaten streak to six games are 10-4-4 overall, but fell out of first place in the GNAC standings at 7-1-3, as Seattle Pacific moved into the lead at 8-2-1, rallying from a 2-0 halftime deficit for a 3-2 overtime victory Thursday at Montana State-Billings.

Western, No.6 in this week's official NCAA Division II West Region rating, likely need to win the GNAC title to earn an NCAA tournament berth. To do that Western must win their final game of the regular season, at Montana State-Billings on Saturday (12 noon), and have Seattle Pacific lose or tie against Northwest Nazarene the same day. Read the rest here.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Senior forward Jocelyn Charette assisted on the equalizer and scored the game-winner eight minutes into overtime Thursday, capping the 17th-ranked Seattle Pacific women’s comeback from a two-goal halftime deficit to a 3-2 soccer win at Montana State Billings at Yellowjacket Field.

Charette’s golden goal, at 98:10, was her league-leading 12th score. Half of those goals have been game-winning strikes. Her long shot from the left side of the box into the upper right corner ended the game.

“Jocelyn just has the ability to change a game at any moment and today again she did. She reached deep down inside and was just amazing,” said SPU coach Chuck Sekyra. The whole story is here.

The Seattle Pacific men’s soccer team (10-5-3, 3-3-1 GNAC) concludes the regular season Saturday seeking to halt a three-game losing streak and keep its slim playoff hopes alive. The Falcons entertain Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Northwest Nazarene (5-10-1, 0-6-1) on Nov. 7. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium where Senior Night festivities will commence 10 minutes earlier.  SPU won all six previous meetings against the Crusaders. A win Saturday would move the Falcons into third place in the conference standings. They could claim second if Western Washington loses Thursday against Saint Martin’s, which has already clinched its first league crown. SPU would tie for second with a win and a WWU draw. The Falcons are ranked sixth in this week’s NCAA West Regional ratings and need to climb two places to receive one of the region’s four NCAA Tournament berths.  Read the rest here.

PULLMAN, Wash. - Both Washington State and USC entered Friday's Pacific-10 Conference women's soccer match looking to improve their position in the conference standings and the NCAA rankings.

After 110 minutes, neither team found a way to score a goal and the match ended in a 0-0 draw. The Cougars (13-4-2, 5-1-2 Pac-10) entered the match No. 13 in the NCAA Ratings Power Index (RPI) and has high as No. 13 in the national polls. USC (12-6-1, 4-3-1 Pac-10) came into the day No. 15 in the RPI and topped out at No. 19 in the national rankings.

"To get a clean sheet is a huge positive especially against a quality opponent like USC," WSU Head Coach Matt Potter said. "We created opportunities and just didn't put any of them in the net today. Sometimes that happens. The reality is I cannot be disappointed tying 0-0 against a very, very good USC team." Read the rest here.

TACOMA, Wash. - With the clouds raining down, the fourth-ranked Puget Sound Loggers reigned supreme, clinching their eight-straight Northwest Conference title with a 2-0 win over the Pacific Boxers in a NWC women's soccer match on Friday on East Athletic Field in Tacoma, Wash.

After a scoreless first half, the Loggers started scoring just about the time that the rains converged over the pitch.  Puget Sound made it a 1-0 game in the 52nd minute when sophomore Christine Isabella (Salt Lake City, Utah/Winthrop) got up and got a head on a corner kick by Mikaela Freeman (Alameda, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) and the header found the back of the net.  The assist by Freeman gave her 13 for the season, which is just one shy of the school record. Read the rest here.

SALEM, Ore. - Beth Tatlock scored her first two goals of the season and added an assist as the Willamette Bearcats defeated visiting Pacific Lutheran, 3-1, in a Northwest Conference women's soccer match played on Friday.

Willamette is now 9-8-2 overall and 8-6-1 in the Northwest Conference. The Lutes drop to 5-13-1 overall and 4-10-1 in the NWC. Read the rest here.

PUYALLUP - Pacific Lutheran scored all three of its goals in the second half on the way to an important 3-1 Northwest Conference men's soccer win over the visiting George Fox Bruins at the Washington Premier soccer field last Sunday.

With the victory, the Lutes, 13-5-0 overall, stay in second place in the Northwest Conference standings with 30 points on a 10-3-0 overall record. Whitworth defeated Linfield on Sunday, 4-1, and remains in first place with 32 points on a 10-1-2 record. Both teams finish their regular seasons at home today, the Lutes playing Puget Sound and the Pirates hosting Whitman. Read the rest here.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Carlos Pehr scored a late goal Tuesday to draw Warner Pacific even with Evergreen State and allow the Knights to stay in 1st place in the CCC standings.

The Geoducks, who are in a fight for the 3rd and final playoff spot, struck first in the 10th minute. Chris Ashburn took a headed pass from Kyle Foster and scored from close in to give ESC the early advantage. Read more here.