October 15, 2009
Lacey, WA – Ruben Orozco tallied one goal and two assists as Saint Martin’s men’s soccer used three second half goals to defeat Seattle Pacific 3-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action Thursday afternoon and notch the victory in their first ever game at the new SMU Soccer Field.
It was a goal by Vlad Voin in the 75th minute that sealed the win for SMU. Ruben Orozco and Gabe O’Hara picked up the assists as the two completed a wall pass to Voin inside the 18.
Saint Martin’s held the edge on shots over the 24th ranked Falcons at 12-10. Zac Lubin made three saves for SMU. Falcons’ keeper Kaleb Kuehn also picked up three saves in the losing effort.
“The men were really excited to play their first game at home and Seattle Pacific has such a great reputation that this was a great event for us,” said head coach Rob Walker. “It was a little difficult to drop the first goal on a little miscommunication but we always talk about how the game is not about perfection but about how we recover from mistakes; on that end, what a great performance from the boys.”
SPU got on the board first finding the back of the net just under four minutes in but that would be the only scoring in the first half. The Saints evened things up one and half minutes into the second half as Ruben Orozco converted the penalty kick to make it 1-1.
Austin Kelley put the Saints on top with a goal in the 52nd minute. Xan Nixon slotted it to Orozco who crossed it in; Kelley settled the cross and sent it into the far left post.
SPU’s final goal came in the 68th minute when Tyler Schultz scored on an assist from Charlie Piehler.
“Vlad played his best game of the year in midfield and upfront. Xan and Ruben were very effective on both sides of the ball while Zac and the back four of Austin, James Schmid, Tony Armitage and Brandon Scott were pretty solid, especially when it mattered most,” said Walker. “Jesse Ramos came in and gave us 30 very good minutes at the end of the first half and into the second.”
With the win the Saints improve to 9-6-0 overall and 4-1-0 in the GNAC. It was only SPU’s second loss of the season, their first also coming at the hand of the Saints, another 3-2 defeat on October 1 in Seattle. The loss drops the Falcons to 9-2-3 overall and 2-2-1 in conference.
The Saints now finish out their season on the road; first up Montana State Billings on October 29th.