Athletics The Scholar-Athlete
Big Goals in Mind for Soccer, Cross-Country, and Vollyball Teams
Autumn Sports Update
By Mark Moschetti | Photo by Andrew Towell
Junior midfielder Sean Russell vied for the ball versus Notre Dame de Namur on September 14, 2013, at Interbay Stadium. The Falcons won 2–0.
Their opening game of the season didn’t go the way they wanted. But every women’s soccer game
from that point through the end of September went exactly the way the Seattle Pacific University
Falcons wanted.
The Falcons finished the first month of the season ranked No. 25 nationally, having won seven in a row. Factored into that 7–1 record was a 4–0 start in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
While sophomore forward Laura Moore was off to a fast start with five goals and three assists in her first eight games, SPU spread the offense around during the first month. A total of eight players scored at least one goal.
The Falcons did just as solid a job at the other end of the field with six shutouts. That included a stretch of five in a row and 522 consecutive shutout minutes for senior goalkeeper Natalie Harold.
Like their female counterparts, the men’s soccer team came up short in its season opening game, then didn’t lose again for the rest of the month. SPU headed into the heart of its schedule with a 5–1–1 record.
It was a freshman, forward Stephen MacDonald, who took the early-season Falcons scoring lead with three goals. But there was plenty of help from elsewhere, as eight other players put one into the back of the net during the first month. Another freshman, goalkeeper Cody Lang, posted three shutouts during a four-game winning streak.
The regionally ranked women’s cross country squad, led by senior McKayla Fricker, swept two team titles at the season opening meet in Alaska, and Fricker won both individual races. The women added another crown at the end of the month at the Saint Martin’s Invitational. The men
came through with a solid eighth-place performance at the highly regarded Sundodger Invitational.
On the volleyball court, SPU got off to an impressive start in its season–opening tournament by
beating perennial West Region and national power Cal State San Bernardino. The Falcons rallied
to win in five games after dropping the first two. Approaching the midpoint of their schedule, they ranked No. 3 nationally for blocks and were all even at 6–6 overall, 2–2 in the GNAC.