The match extended the Redhawks’ unbeaten WAC streak to 11 games after they went 7-0-3 in 2013 en route to the league regular season and tournament championships.
“Tonight was a battle, both teams had their chances, and it was a great game,” said head coach Pete Fewing. “Utah Valley doesn’t play like a first year team and their crowd was excellent, so it was a really exciting college soccer game. It was a good battle for our guys and they did not give up. They played 110 minutes and worked hard the entire time, so I’m proud of them.”
Hamza Haddadi (Shoreline, Wash.) slotted his second goal of the season in the mid-10th minute to give Seattle U the early 1-0 lead, a lead they took into the halftime break. Ian Hines-Ike (Littleton, Colo.) collected the ball in the midfield, playing it to Brady Ballew (Marysville, Wash.) who passed it to Haddadi on the right side of the box.
In the 63rd minute, Utah Valley’s Karson Payton would save the Wolverines from defeat, tying the match, as his free kick one-bounced and went directly into the right side of the goal.
The Redhawks added a trio of shots in the final nine minutes of regulation play, but the 1-1 tie forced what would be a set of overtime periods.
In the first, Race Sciabica (Bellevue, Wash.) and Jeff Rose (Carmichael, Calif.) had Seattle U’s best opportunities with a pair of shots on goal near the middle of the period. A nearly purely defensive battle in the second, only one shot by either team was taken by Payton with eight seconds remaining.
Shots nearly even in the first half of play (5-4 in favor of the Wolverines), UVU would power home 12 shots in the second half to lead the tally, 20-14, overall in the match. Haddadi led SU with three shots, all on frame.
In goal, Shane Haworth (Puyallup, Wash.) made four saves in the complete game outing while Collin Partee made six saves.
The Redhawks return to the comforts of Championship Field for a trio of games starting with their WAC home opener vs. UNLV on Friday, Oct. 10 at 5 p.m. in a doubleheader with the women’s soccer team (Grand Canyon at 7:30 p.m.). They are set to host Grand Canyon on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1:30 p.m., also in a doubleheader with the SU women’s team (Bakersfield at 11 a.m.). They will host the Utah Valley Wolverines on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in their annual Cystic Fibrosis awareness game, where all fans wearing blue will receive a $3 discounted ticket.
Stay tuned to GoSeattleU.com as well as Facebook (Seattle U Athletics; Seattle U Men’s Soccer), Twitter (@su_athletics; @seattleu_MSO), and Instagram (su_redhawks) for all the latest on the team in their 2014 campaign.