Seattle University men’s soccer (7-8-4, 6-0-3 WAC) scored early and, despite finding themselves down at halftime, came from behind for a 4-3 win at Kansas City (4-9-4, 3-5-1 WAC) to remain undefeated in Western Athletic Conference play. The win combined with Bakersfield's loss ensured the Redhawks as the 2013 WAC Regular Season Champions in their first season in the league.
“It was a great win for our program,” said head coach Pete Fewing. “It was a very important win to come back and get three second half goals and our guys stayed on task and didn’t give up. It’s good to get a win and good to stay undefeated in the league. I’m proud of the guys and happy for them, they worked hard.”
In the 21st minute, Ian Hines-Ike (Littleton, Colo.) put the Redhawks ahead, 1-0, on a free kick into the top left corner of the goal.
Just three minutes later, in the 24th minute, Alioune Gueye evened the score with a shot from 12 yards out, assisted by Derek Schrick.
In the 31st minute, Broc Cramer put Kansas City ahead, 2-1, on a cross from Gueye and a one-touch finish from six yards out.
Tato Chiaparro increased the UMKC lead, 3-1, assisted by Cramer, on a one-touch finish from eight yards out, which remained the score at halftime.
Less than five minutes after the halftime break, in the 50th minute, Shane Mahvi (San Diego, Calif.) started the Redhawks comeback on his first career goal with a header off a corner kick by Brady Ballew (Marysville, Wash.) to decrease the margin to one, 3-2.
Hamza Haddadi (Shoreline, Wash.) equalized the score once again, 3-3, on a header off a cross by Kyle Bjornethun (Snohomish, Wash.) from five yards out in the 82nd minute.
In the 87th minute, Jonathan Massimino (San Ramon, Calif.) scored his second game-winning goal of the season, as Jeff Rose (Carmichael, Calif.) recorded the assist, to give the Redhawks the 4-3 come-from-behind victory.
Miguel Gonzalez (Yelm, Wash.) took a team-high five shots for the Redhawks despite UMKC outshooting SU, 19-15.
In goal, Jake Feener (Rocklin, Calif.) made nine saves in the win while Chris McGaughey made two saves for the Kangaroos.
Seattle U has one regular season contest remaining on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. as they host San Jose State and honor the 2013 senior class in their final home match in Seattle U uniform. They will battle for the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament the following weekend at the WAC Tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Nov. 14-17.