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Men's Soccer Drops Exhibition Opener
Aug. 23, 2002 SPOKANE, Wash. - Seattle University got an insurance goal from Bobby McAlister at 83:43 Friday and went on to defeat Gonzaga University 3-2 in an exhibition men's soccer match at Martin Field. The spirited match had the flavor of a regular-season match as there were 27 fouls and five Gonzaga yellow cards issued. The Redhawks got on the scoreboard first when James Vert converted McAlister's through ball for a breakaway from the left side that Vert pushed past Gonzaga keeper Mike McCarthy. Vert also missed giving the visitors a 2-0 lead when his point blank shot off a cross was saved by McCarthy in the 35th minute. The Bulldogs were out shot 9-4 in the opening half. Gonzaga head coach Einar Thorarinsson, who didn't start regulars Arni Ingi Pjetursson, Tryggvi Bjornsson and Scott Yuska, got his big guns into the match in the second half. Pjetursson and Bjornsson, who didn't arrive in camp until Wednesday from their native Iceland, didn't take long to be noticed. Pjetursson was denied by Seattle keeper Brandon Sewell on a point blank header off Bjornsson's cross just five minutes into the second half. Yuska played sparingly while nursing a sore leg. Seattle took a 2-0 lead just three minutes following the big Sewell save when Nick McCluskey's blast from the top of the box found the upper right corner over McCarthy's out-stretched left hand. But the Bulldogs answered 50 seconds later when Scott Bertram scored from the left side on a pass from Pjetursson at 49:05.
McAlister missed a chance to give Seattle a 3-1 lead at 72:03 when he got behind the defense, hesitated on the open net and saw his shot blocked to the right of the post as the Bulldogs defense and McCarthy recovered. McAlister made amends at 83:43 when he took a long pass from Sewell, got in a collision with defender Robert Anderson and got past the fallen Anderson for the wide open shot.
Gonzaga made one last-ditch effort to draw even, closing within one goal at 89:41 when Connor Quinn left a soft one-touch pass for Nick Ascolese breaking down the left wing, Ascolese converting but leaving the Bulldog too little time to mount the game-equaling threat. Sewell had four saves to go with his assist, McCarthy three saves as the shots ended up favoring Seattle by a 14-10 margin. The Bulldogs open the regular season next Friday when Oregon State University visits for a 4 p.m. match. Seattle will open the season against UC-Davis in Bakersfield, Calif., next Friday at 5 p.m. |
