“It was a good win even though we didn’t play our best soccer today,” said head coach Pete Fewing. “Grand Canyon made it a little bit tougher to break them down, so we had to be patient. I’m pleased we were patient from the first half to the second half and we were able to find ways to break them down. It was a good result and it’s great to still be on top of the WAC. We faced 16 shots today and Jake Feener had a lot of good saves.”
The teams traded early control of the match, as Brady Ballew (Marysville, Wash.) added a shot early for the Redhawks followed by two straight shots and two straight corners for the Antelopes.
Austin Sweeney (Federal Way, Wash.) and Cameron Rohani (Cartersville, Ga.) added shots in the 36th and 37th minutes, but the bail sailed wide on both occasions.
Seattle U was able to break through and take the 1-0 lead in the 41st minute as Jeff Rose (Carmichael, Calif.) blasted the ball into the goal on a cross by Sweeney.
At the start of the 53rd minute, Hamza Haddadi (Shoreline, Wash.) added to the Redhawks’ tally, striking the ball into the net from the far left side of the goal. Rohani, with his first career assist, and Jose Merlo (San Marcos, Calif.) assisted on the goal.
SU had another chance in the 64th minute to add to their total as Miguel Gonzalez (Yelm, Wash.) headed the ball towards the goal, but the ball flew wide of the goal.
The Antelopes had a late chance to score in the beginning of the 81st minute as Garcia Sanchez shot just wide of the goal.
In the 85th minute, Haddadi added his second goal of the match, assisted by Justice Duerksen (San Clemente, Calif.), for insurance as the Redhawks came away with the 3-0 shutout.
“We started out a little slow but with a team like this, we just had to put them away,” said Haddadi. “After we got the second and third goals, from there we just kept the ball and closed out the game. “To stay on top of the WAC, we just have to keep winning games. That’s where we want to finish and, going into the tournament, we want to be playing our best soccer and be ready.”
Haddadi, tying a career high, led the Redhawks with five shots as SU outshot GCU, 19-16, overall. This also marked Haddadi’s first career two-goal match.
In goal, Jake Feener (Rocklin, Calif.), who remains the NCAA Division I leader in saves, made eight saves while Joshua Zehring made three saves, allowing all three goals. The match marked Feener’s ninth game of the season with eight or more saves.
The Redhawks hit the road for their final regular season road trip at Houston Baptist on Friday, Nov. 1 at 5 pm PT and UMKC on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 9 am PT. They return home for Senior Night vs. San Jose State on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.