Seattle University men’s soccer (3-3-0) had several opportunities to win as they scored first and equalized the score early in the second half, but two mid-second half goals by St. Mary’s (4-2-0) lifted them to a 4-2 win in Moraga, Calif.
"We had our opportunities - Brady Ballew scored in the first half and Race had a great header to tie it up,": said head coach Pete Fewing. "We had momentum, but we didn't capitalize and so I give credit to St. Mary's for putting away the chances they had. As a group, we have to do better and if we had better used our chances, it might've been a different result."
The teams scoreless through the first 20 minutes, Brady Ballew (Marysville, Wash.) struck first, putting the Redhawks ahead on an unassisted goal in the 23rd minute, dribbling and shooting from the side across the front of the goal into the net.
Seattle U would lead for 20 minutes in hopes of taking a one-goal lead into halftime but the Gaels scored two goals within 36 seconds of each other, both within two minutes of the halftime buzzer.
Lucas Isaacson headed in the equalizer on an assist by Rafael Sanchez before Carlo Eikani got the ball from Nathan Grixti and went one-on-one with Shane Haworth (Puyallup, Wash.), slotting the ball into the lower right corner for the go-ahead goal just before half.
Just 25 seconds into the second half, Race Sciabica (Bellevue, Wash.) scored his first goal of the season on a header off a saved shot by Jeff Rose (Carmichael, Calif.) to again equalize the score, 2-2.
St. Mary’s would score a second pair of goals within a two minute period starting in the 69th minute to go ahead 4-2 as Grixti chipped the ball into the far left side of the goal before Michael Semenza volleyed the ball into the left corner off a looping cross by Dakota Armour.
The Redhawks earned a corner kick in the 86th minute and added a pair of shots late in the game, but they were not able to overcome the deficit as they fell, 4-2.
Despite the loss, Seattle U outshot St. Mary’s, 13-12 as Ballew led the Redhawks with four shots.
Seattle U will not play until next weekend, returning home to host Oregon State on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. and Gonzaga on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m.
In goal, Haworth made three saves in the 90 minute outing while Andre Rawls earned the win, making three saves for the Gaels.