Sept. 27, 2004

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Ryan Hopp (Sr., Marysville/Marysville-Pilchuck) had two goals, scoring the game winner with 8:31 to go, and Gus Zadra (Poulsbo/North Kitsap) added an insurance goal five minutes later, giving Western Washington University a 3-1 victory over Montana State University-Billings in men's college soccer Monday at Civic Stadium.

It was the fifth consecutive victory for Western, which improved to 8-2-0, the best start since 1990. MSU-Billings fell to 4-6-0.

The Vikings dominated the first half, having a 10-3 edge in shots, but led just 1-0 at the intermission, as Hopp scored from eight yards out just 9:17 into the game after getting a pass from forward Zach Bauling (Fr., Albuquerque, NM), who stole the ball deep in the MSU-Billings end.

Hopp nearly doubled the margin in the 75th minute, grazing the left post from 20 yards out, but the Yellowjackets had the better chances for much of the second half, and evened the score at 1-1 in the 79th minute, as a 20-yard free kick by Thomas Pertuit curled around the Western defensive wall and into the right corner.

"To have a 1-0 lead and be feeling confident at halftime is always scary for a coach," said Western coach Travis Connell. "We didn't play well in the second half, we got totally away from what we'd been doing, and once you get out of your game, it's so hard to get back.

"Really, the only thing that could bring us back was their goal. It got us going again and we started moving and playing faster."

Just 2:29 after the goal, the Vikings were back in front again. Bauling got to the end line to knock in a cross and David Schlesinger (Sr., Missoula, MT/Big Sky) flicked it back to Hopp, who finished from 12 yards out for his 10th goal of the season.

Zadra then finished the scoring, blasting the ball home from 10 yards out on the left side after a pass from Nick Webb (Fr., Bellingham/Squalicum).

Western finished the match with a 22-11 edge in shots.

The Vikings make their second trip to California, traveling to Cal State Monterey Bay on Wednesday (3 p.m.) and Chico State on Friday (7 p.m.).

Montana State-Billings vs. Western WashingtonDate: 9/27/04      Attendance: 170Goals by Period         1       2      TotalMontana State-Billings  0   1   -   1Western Washington      1       2   -     3SCORING SUMMARY:WWU - Hopp (Bauling), 9:17MSU-B - Pertuit, 79:00WWU - Hopp (Schlesinger, Bauling), 81:29WWU - Zadra (Webb), 86:25Shots: MSU-Billings 11, Western 22Corner kicks: MSU-Billings 2, Western 4Saves: MSU-Billings 7 (Kyle Bales 3), Western 5 (Ben Dragavon 5)