Sept. 25, 2002
Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Midfielder Ian McLeod (So., Mercer Island) scored his first career goal with 15 minutes left in the second half, helping Western Washington University to a 1-1 tie with Seattle Pacific University in a non-conference men's soccer game Wednesday night at Civic Stadium.
Western, which had a four-game winning streak snapped but is unbeaten in its last five games, is now 6-3-1. Seattle Pacific, which took a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute on a goal by Cory Janzen, is 4-3-1.
The 20 minutes of overtime were eventful, with each team getting good scoring chances and Western's Paul Nissley (So., Mount Vernon) being redcarded in the 102nd minute after a collision with Falcon goalkeeper Jimmy Ward.
Seattle Pacific's Grant Falco had a shot deflected wide in the 100th minute, and in the 106th minute, Western's Eric Blatt (Sr., Spokane/Ferris) got a shot off after a cross into the goalmouth, but Ward made the save.
The Falcons, who had a 14-11 edge in shots, got the last chance of the game with just 20 seconds left, as shot from 20 yards by Michael Brkich forced a sprawling save from Viking goalkeeper Ben Dragavon (Fr., Monroe).
"Both teams were real tight and played conservatively," said Western coach Travis Connell. "The teams have a lot of respect for each other and it showed in the play. What was weird was that there weren't that many chances, but the chances the teams did get were great opportunities."
Janzen's goal, the first allowed by Western in the last four games, came as he knocked in a corner kick from Jeremy Yerkes. The Vikings leveled the score as Kris Pope (Fr., Everett/Jackson) took a pass from David Schlesinger (So., Missoula, MT/Big Sky), reached the end line and fed a ball into the middle, where McLeod crashed the net and scored.
"We showed great character to come back and rally," Connell said. "Ian McLeod hasn't trained all week and was playing at about 80 percent, and we had a lot of guys out there playing hurt. There were a lot of gutsy performances."
Western now has a win and a tie in its last two games against Seattle Pacific after going 0-21-1 in its previous varsity meetings with the Falcons.
Seattle Pacific coach Cliff McCrath was on the sidelines for the contest. McCrath had been redcarded in a 5-1 loss at Simon Fraser, but the governing sports authority for the Seattle Pacific/Simon Fraser soccer game was considered to be the two athletic directors of the two schools involved since it was a non-league contest, and the red card was rescinded.
The Vikings continue their seven-game home stand Saturday (3 p.m.), playing host to Montana State-Billings.
