SEATTLE – Seattle University men's soccer will face Portland in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Redhawks, who won their fifth Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament Championship Sunday, will battle against the Pilots in Portland on Thursday with the time still to be determined.
Seattle U (13-7-1) mounted two comebacks over the weekend against Air Force and Grand Canyon to win the 2021 WAC Tournament Title. On Friday, the Redhawks found themselves down, 3-2, with just under four minutes remaining against Air Force when Levonte Johnson scored a great individual goal and James Morris won the match with 17 seconds left. The Championship match was even more dramatic as Seattle U was down, 2-0, with a little over three minutes remaining against Grand Canyon when Sam Tessler and Noe Meza scored about one minute and 30 seconds apart to bring the match to two all. SU went on to win the tournament title in penalty kicks as Akili Kasim saved two and the Redhawks converted on all of their attempts.
Noe Meza scored two goals in the two tournament matches, winning himself the WAC Tournament MVP award. Levonte Johnson, James Morris and Hal Uderitz were all also named to the WAC All-Tournament Team as they combined for three goals and one assist over the two matches.
Four members of the Redhawks were named to All-WAC regular season teams. Akili Kasim and Declan McGlynn were voted onto the first team as the latter led Seattle U in goals with eight and the former started all 19 matches in net, averaging .91 goals against and posting five shutouts. Levonte Johnson was a member of the second team, while Campbell Strong was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Portland enters the tournament with a 10-6-1 record. The Pilots are lead by a strong defense as they have only given up 15 goals in 17 matches, an average of .88 goals against per game.
The Redhawks last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 when they defeated Loyola Marymount in the first round before falling to Stanford on penalty kicks.
Stay connected with Seattle U men's soccer and get all the latest team updates by downloading the GoSeattleU mobile app available now for free in the App Store or Google Play.
Seattle U (13-7-1) mounted two comebacks over the weekend against Air Force and Grand Canyon to win the 2021 WAC Tournament Title. On Friday, the Redhawks found themselves down, 3-2, with just under four minutes remaining against Air Force when Levonte Johnson scored a great individual goal and James Morris won the match with 17 seconds left. The Championship match was even more dramatic as Seattle U was down, 2-0, with a little over three minutes remaining against Grand Canyon when Sam Tessler and Noe Meza scored about one minute and 30 seconds apart to bring the match to two all. SU went on to win the tournament title in penalty kicks as Akili Kasim saved two and the Redhawks converted on all of their attempts.
Noe Meza scored two goals in the two tournament matches, winning himself the WAC Tournament MVP award. Levonte Johnson, James Morris and Hal Uderitz were all also named to the WAC All-Tournament Team as they combined for three goals and one assist over the two matches.
Four members of the Redhawks were named to All-WAC regular season teams. Akili Kasim and Declan McGlynn were voted onto the first team as the latter led Seattle U in goals with eight and the former started all 19 matches in net, averaging .91 goals against and posting five shutouts. Levonte Johnson was a member of the second team, while Campbell Strong was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Portland enters the tournament with a 10-6-1 record. The Pilots are lead by a strong defense as they have only given up 15 goals in 17 matches, an average of .88 goals against per game.
The Redhawks last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 when they defeated Loyola Marymount in the first round before falling to Stanford on penalty kicks.
Stay connected with Seattle U men's soccer and get all the latest team updates by downloading the GoSeattleU mobile app available now for free in the App Store or Google Play.