Morris' Penalty Kick Leads Seattle U Men's Soccer to 1-0 Victory

Behind 10 players on the field the Seattle University men's soccer team earned a 1-0 shutout over Central Arkansas in their opening contest of the Oregon State Hensor/Zaher Nike Classic. Junior Sean Morris (Bothell, Wash.) took a penalty kick in the 66th minute, which proved to be the difference maker in the contest. With the victory, SU earned their first win of the year, improving to 1-3-1, while UCA falls to 1-4-1.

"The game started off kind of hectic," said head coach Brad Agoos. "We got a red card early on and then Central Arkansas got one too. After that it became an even game, playing 10 versus 10, which made the game much more open with guys missing on both sides."

"I think our guys did well. Towards the middle of the second half we were able to keep possession and got a penalty kick called, which Sean was able to make. It was a good performance and a step in the right direction from where we were last week," concluded Agoos.

Midway through the second half Marshall Kosaka (Burien, Wash.) passed the ball to Brady Ballew (Marysville, Wash.) in the box, where he was fouled by the UCA goalkeeper Ivan Zarate and drew a penalty kick. Morris took the Redhawks first penalty kick of the season, hitting his target perfectly for the game-winner.

Seattle U's journey to their goal was behind a gritty first half of play. The game, which tallied 21 total fouls, was aggressively played by both ends. The Redhawk offense was much more in control of the ball early off, as they sent in seven shots, with two on target. Despite outshooting the Bears 7-3, they were unable find net even after both sides sent players off with red cards in a four minute span in the first period.

In the second half, SU bombarded the Bear's box early with four consecutive shots, including an Ed Walugembe (Kampala, Uganda) shot that was saved by Zarate. Central Arkansas responded by taking the ball to the other end of the field and sailed in a shot that goalkeeper Ivan Dizdar (Croatia) got his gloves on. The SU defense was able to regain possession of the ball and push it back into the UCA box to attack their goal which led to the Ballew foul and Morris' game-winning penalty kick.

The Redhawks outshot the Bears 15-6, with both sides having five shots on net. Morris was an all-around offensive attacker leading both squads with seven shots, including a pair on target. Defensively, 'keeper Dizdar tallied five saves in the match to post his first clean sheet.

SU will look to maintain the momentum of their shutout victory and carry it into their tournament concluding match versus UC Davis on Sunday, Sept. 19. First kick is slated for 1:30 p.m.