SEATTLE, Wash. – The Chico State and Seattle Pacific men’s soccer teams staged a hard-fought defensive battle Saturday night in Seattle, dueling to a scoreless deadlock in regulation…but 2:05 into overtime, the Falcons’ Alec Nelson knocked in the rebound of his own missed shot to give Seattle Pacific a 1-0 victory and hand the Wildcats their first loss of the 2009 season.

The defeat was all the more heartbreaking for Chico State because an apparent ’Cats goal in the first half was waived off due to a foul near the Seattle Pacific net. Halfway into the 37th minute, a 32-yard Kyle Crain free kick was saved by Falcons’ goalkeeper Kaleb Kuehn, but the ensuing rebound was punched in by a Wildcats player in traffic. The ill-timed foul call, however, negated the score.

The second half saw Seattle Pacific on the attack, taking 13 shots, but thanks to three saves by Chico State goalie Michael Keohane, the Falcons could not find the back of the net through the second 45-minute stanza. The Wildcats struggled to get shots off in the second half – after eight attempts in the first half, Chico State was held to just five shots (and no shots on goal) the rest of the way.

The match was finally decided in the 93rd minute – a Seattle Pacific ball deep into the penalty area landed near the top of Keohane’s six-yard goalkeeper’s box. Nelson then tried to boot it home, but his scoring attempt was saved by Keohane. Falcons defender Elliot Morton kept the ball alive in the goalmouth, and the rebound ricocheted back out to Nelson toward the right post. Nelson’s second kick from four yards out sailed into the net, giving Seattle Pacific the 1-0 overtime win.

Kyle Crain had four of the Wildcats’ 13 shots on the night, with Nick Tedrow adding three; Struckmeyer and Jacob Darr took two shots apiece. With Saturday’s loss, Chico State dropped to 2-1 on the season, while Seattle Pacific improved to 3-0-2 on the year.
 
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